North America is the largest recipient of AI VC investment, despite a difficult political climate

PitchBook data shows that despite what some experts have described as an increasingly hostile environment for AI R&D in North America, the region continues to receive a large amount of AI venture capital.

From February to May this year, VCs invested $69.7 billion in North American AI and machine-learning startups through 1,528 deals. This is compared to the $6.4 billion invested by VC firms in European AI ventures over 742 deals during the same period. PitchBook reports that Asia-based startups are doing a little worse than their European counterparts. Between February and may, VCs only invested $3 billion in Asia’s AI startups through 515 deals.

President Donald Trump has led the U.S. to a new level of economic growth. The U.S. government has dramatically cut funding for scientific grants related AI research. This has made it harder for foreign students who specialize in AI to study there. The federal government threatened to shut down AI labs housed in universities by freezing billions of funds. The administration’s trade policy, including its retaliatory duties, has led to a chaotic marketplace unfavorable to risky new AI ventures.

The United States is a In a post on X, Geoffrey Hinton, AI pioneer and Nobel laureate, called for Elon Musk to be expelled by the British Royal Society in March because of the damage he was doing to scientific institutions within the U.S.

It is reasonable to expect that Europe would attract more venture funding in light of Trump’s controversial policies, which have caused confusion and uncertainty for investors, founders, and researchers. The EU has also committed hundreds of millions of euros to help develop AI in its member countries. It already has a number successful and well-funded AI startups (see Mistral Alpha, H and Aleph Alpha to name a couple).

However, this anticipated shift in global investments has not yet materialized. There’s no sign of a mass VC migration to the bloc or of a significant increase in AI funding overseas – at least not yet.

This is also true for China. The country has produced high-profile AI companies like DeepSeek, Butterfly Effect (the company behind the agentic platform Manus), but VC activity remains low in China and across Asia. Export controls affecting the ability of certain Asian nations to procure AI chip are almost certainly a contributing factor.

By 2024, North American startups will receive 75.6% of the total VC AI funding – $106.24 billion. This share has increased even more this year. North American AI investments have accounted for 86.2% (79.74 billion dollars) of all VC funds globally in 2025. It paints an interesting picture. Even with the mounting political and regulatory challenges under Trump’s second tenure, the U.S. is still the undisputed center of AI capital. This means that investors, tired as they may be from the administration’s unpredictable nature, are still relying on U.S. innovations to deliver the best returns, for now.

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