Surging interest in artificial intelligence is not enough to shift the epicenter for AI startup investment away from North America.
Despite an increasingly uncertain climate and regulatory pressure, startups in the United States and Canada have scooped up the lion’s share of venture money. From February to May this year, they pulled in about AI startup investment spread across over fifteen hundred deals.
Europe managed to attract just $6.4 billion within the same span, covering nearly half as many deals. The numbers for Asia paint an even starker contrast, with venture investors committing only $3 billion across 515 deals.
For all the talk of Europe’s ambitious AI roadmap and the billions pledged by the European Union, there has not been a flood of investment leaving North America for the continent. VCs are looking for stable ground, and for now, that still means putting their chips on North American startups.
Who Holds the Reins on AI Capital?
The policy environment in the United States has hardly made things easier for researchers and entrepreneurs. Scientific grant funding aimed at basic AI research has been slashed during Trump’s term, and the hurdles facing international students hoping to work in the US continue to stack up.
University labs have found themselves hemmed in as federal dollars are frozen and previously stable sources of funding become unreliable. At the same time, sweeping changes to international trade and the turbulence caused by tariffs make the prospect of launching risky ventures even less attractive.
Yet that chaos has not triggered an overseas investment boom. The big dollars keep landing on this side of the Atlantic. Investors still view North America as the playground where the most innovative breakthroughs are likely to surface.
China, despite turning out some prominent AI startups, is seeing similarly subdued investment. Trade restrictions have put pressure on Asian tech companies, especially as they struggle to secure the high-end chips that power most cutting-edge machines.
Numbers show just how pronounced this dominance is. North American AI companies attracted over three quarters of all global AI venture funding in 2024. That dominance only grew stronger in early 2025, swelling to 86 percent of the world’s investment in the sector.
Some expected Europe’s stable regulatory climate to lure big money and new unicorns, especially after the US’s political shakeups and cutbacks. That has not happened, at least not yet.
Despite all the drama, the US remains the favored destination for venture capitalists betting on the future of AI. Investors, clearly undeterred by regulatory storms, still see American startups as their best bet for blockbuster returns.
