AI startups just raked in billions - here's where all that cash is going

It was another massive week for AI startup funding, with American companies announcing ten venture deals over $100 million each. The biggest winner was Mirendil, a developer of 'agentic AI' for research and development, which landed a staggering $1 billion Series A from top-tier investors like Kleiner Perkins. Close behind was Mercor with $750 million for its platform connecting AI developers to human experts, and Torus secured $500 million for its distributed AI compute infrastructure.

This list shows venture capital is still pouring overwhelmingly into the AI ecosystem, from core infrastructure and agent platforms to applied fields like manufacturing robotics. While biotech and fintech made smaller appearances, the sheer scale of these deals—multiple rounds hitting billion-dollar valuations—signals that investors are betting big on AI's next phase. The takeaway: if you're building in AI, especially around agents or the hardware to run them, there's still a mountain of money looking for a home.