One robot company was almost half the week. AI raised $3.78B across 58 companies, about 34% of all venture dollars. $1.7B of that is Atoms — Travis Kalanick's new physical-AI robotics company, led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Uber itself re-investing in its former CEO. Strip that one round and the rest of the AI market was $2.08B, a quiet week. The United States took 81% of all AI dollars. The throughline, again: physical AI. Robots keep writing the biggest checks.
$3.78B
AI funding this week
$1.7B
biggest round (Atoms)
$403.8B
cumulative · 34 weeks
Verified live · grok + web
All top rounds confirmed as genuinely AI: Atoms ($1.7B, physical AI, led by a16z, founded by Travis Kalanick), Meshy AI ($400M, generative 3D), Cathedral ($160M, AI military cyber, kept as AI and flagged defense), Humanoid ($152M, humanoid robots), and Neo Security ($75M, agentic-AI security). Left OUT after verification: Genius AI ($44M, a salon-scheduling SaaS that only matched on its name). Kept but flagged as edge-case AI: Augustus ($180M) is really stablecoin banking, and Candid Health ($120M) is billing automation.
Analysis 1 · Overview
Of 203 funded companies this week, 58 (29%) were AI, taking $3.78B of the $11.22B total raised (34%). Atoms' $1.7B is 45% of the entire AI week. Strip it and AI funding was $2.08B — a soft week with one giant check on top.
Analysis 2 · Regional (AI dollars only)
- United States — $3.07B (81%) · 32 cos. Swept the week, boosted by Atoms' $1.7B but also deepest on deal count.
- Europe — $320M (8%) · 13 cos. The most companies after the US, small checks; Humanoid's $152M led.
- China — $280M (7%) · 5 cos. Quiet week, led by Yimu Technology's $147.6M.
- Asia-Pacific (ex-China) — $80M (2%) · 6 cos.
- Rest of World — $30M (1%) · 2 cos (incl. Canada).
Analysis 3 · Top 5 AI rounds
1. Atoms — $1.7B
Led by a16z · Los Angeles · physical AI
Travis Kalanick, the Uber co-founder, is back — building industrial robots and physical AI to automate food, mining, and transport. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Uber re-investing.
⚑ Most show-friendly — the biggest name of the fortnight and a genuine comeback story.2. Meshy AI — $400M
Series B · Sunnyvale · generative 3D
Turns text and images into 3D models in seconds. Generative AI for games, art, and product design.
3. Augustus — $180M
Series B · San Francisco · fintech
An AI-native banking and clearing platform built on stablecoins for financial institutions.
⚑ Edge-case AI — kept it, but the substance is stablecoin banking.4. Cathedral — $160M
Washington, DC · defense AI cyber
AI-powered military cybersecurity, building both offensive and defensive tools for national security.
⚑ Genuinely an AI company, so it counts — flagged as defense.5. Humanoid — $152M
Series A · London · robotics
Builds humanoid robots for factories and warehouses. Part of the same physical-AI wave as Atoms.
Also notable: Yimu Technology $147.6M (physical-world AI infrastructure), Candid Health $120M (healthcare billing automation), Glow $100M (AI endpoint security), Neo Security $75M (agentic-AI security).
Analysis 4 · Trends
- Physical AI dominates. Atoms $1.7B, Humanoid $152M, Yimu $147.6M, Xynova $73.8M — robots out-raised software again.
- The US swept the week. 81% of AI dollars and the deepest deal count.
- AI cybersecurity clustered. Cathedral, Glow, Neo Security, Empirical, Cranium — security built for the agentic era.
- Founder-brand rounds are back. Kalanick's name pulled a $1.7B round led by a16z.
- Quiet under the giant. Strip Atoms and the week was $2.08B — the softest in a while.