VCs Pour Billions Into Physical AI As The Next Wave Of AI Investing Takes Shape

AI Summary

Global venture capital investment in physical AI technologies surged to $47.4 billion in the first half of 2026, nearly quadrupling the $12 billion raised in the latter half of 2025. This reflects significant growth and investor confidence in the next wave of AI applications involving tangible hardware components.

In the first half of 2026, global venture funding in the physical AI space totaled $47.4 billion across 521 deals, per Crunchbase data. That’s up dramatically — almost 4x — compared to the second half of 2025 when startups in the sector raised $12 billion across 470 deals.