AI craze getting funded by tech giants, distorting traditional VCs [Video]

Almost three years into a largely dormant IPO cycle, venture capitalists are in a tough spot.

The private market is dotted with richly valued artificial intelligence startups, including some that are described as generational companies. But venture firms in need of exits aren’t going to get relief from AI anytime soon.

That’s because, unlike prior tech booms, VCs aren’t at the center of this one. Rather, the biggest companies in the industry — Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Nvidia — have been pouring in billions of dollars to fuel the growth of capital-intensive companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI and CoreWeave.

With some of the most well-capitalized companies on the planet flinging open their wallets to fund the generative AI …