Aperture Regions › United States › AI Models & Research
US AI Models & Research startup funding
US AI Models & Research startups raised $264.2B across 61 funding rounds at 53 companies in the 12 months to Nov 14, 2026, against $80.4B across 50 rounds in the 12 months before (+229% in capital, +22% in rounds).
Companies headquartered in the United States, all funding stages, by announcement date. Data as of Nov 15, 2026; the last 12 months run Nov 15, 2025 – Nov 14, 2026. Capital counts disclosed amounts only (56 of 61 rounds in the last 12 months).
How much did US AI Models & Research startups raise in the last 12 months?
| Last 12 months | 12 months before | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital raised (disclosed) | $264.2B | $80.4B | +229% |
| Rounds | 61 | 50 | +22% |
| Companies funded | 53 | 41 | +29% |
How much have US AI Models & Research startups raised in 2026?
In 2026 through Nov 14, 2026, US AI Models & Research startups raised $262.2B across 56 rounds, against $70B across 42 rounds in the same period of 2025.
Which US AI Models & Research startups raised the most?
OpenAI raised the most in the last 12 months, 51% of the capital; the three largest companies together took 94%.
| Company | City | Capital raised | Rounds | Latest round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | San Francisco | $134B | 3 | Stage not stated · Nov 2026 |
| Anthropic | San Francisco | $95B | 2 | Series F+ · May 2026 |
| xAI | Palo Alto | $20B | 1 | Series E · Jan 2026 |
| Safe Superintelligence | — | $5B | 1 | Stage not stated · Jul 2026 |
| Mirendil | San Francisco | $1.2B | 2 | Series A · Nov 2026 |
| Flapping Airplanes | San Francisco | $1.2B | 2 | Series A · Oct 2026 |
| World Labs | Palo Alto | $1B | 1 | Series B · Feb 2026 |
| TypeSafe AI | — | $910M | 2 | Series A · Oct 2026 |
| Luma AI | — | $900M | 1 | Series C · Nov 2025 |
| Hark | San Jose | $700M | 1 | Series A · May 2026 |
Which AI Models & Research sub-sectors are growing in the US?
New architectures & research labs added the most companies: 6 raised in the 12 months before and 9 in the last 12 months.
| Sub-sector | Companies funded (year before → last 12 months) | Rounds | Capital raised |
|---|---|---|---|
| General-purpose foundation models | 11 → 12 | 16 | $256.1B |
| New architectures & research labs | 6 → 9 | 11 | $2.5B |
| World models & spatial intelligence | 1 → 7 | 8 | $1.9B |
| Scientific & biological models | 4 → 7 | 7 | $608M |
| Enterprise & domain models | 2 → 6 | 7 | $1.8B |
| Multimodal, image & video models | 6 → 6 | 6 | $1.1B |
| Speech & audio models | 7 → 5 | 5 | $122M |
1 companies are not yet tagged with a sub-sector (Other / unclear).
How large is a typical US AI Models & Research round?
In the last 12 months, the median disclosed Seed round was $50M, Series A round was $100M.
| Stage | Rounds | With a disclosed amount | Median disclosed round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | 3 | 3 | — |
| Seed | 22 | 21 | $50M |
| Series A | 16 | 15 | $100M |
| Series B | 6 | 6 | — |
| Series C | 2 | 2 | — |
| Series E | 1 | 1 | — |
| Series F+ | 2 | 2 | — |
| Stage not stated | 9 | 6 | — |
Medians are shown where at least 10 amounts are disclosed.
US AI Models & Research funding by quarter
| Quarter | Rounds | Capital raised |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q1 | 10 | $46.9B |
| 2025 Q2 | 8 | $2.1B |
| 2025 Q3 | 13 | $18.5B |
| 2025 Q4 | 16 | $4.5B |
| 2026 Q1 | 15 | $174.3B |
| 2026 Q2 | 18 | $67.9B |
| 2026 Q3 | 16 | $5.8B |
| 2026 Q4 (to date) | 7 | $14.1B |
Other US sectors: AI Infrastructure · Robotics & Physical AI · Industry AI · Defense & Public Safety AI · AI Hardware & Chips · Healthcare & Life Sciences · Fintech AI · Enterprise & Vertical AI · AI Agents · AI Developer Tools · Cybersecurity AI · Consumer & Media AI.
Definitions are in the methodology. Report a missing or misreported deal from the link in the footer.