"In the venture capital world, 2025 was one of the biggest on record with about 70% of all deals going to AI companies. We have a different view. The checks were bigger, but there weren't as many of them. In fact, the closing months of 2025 saw the fewest individual venture deals of the last 20 quarters. That could mean there are fewer people starting new companies, fewer new ideas entering the economy, and fewer jobs for those who need them."
"The image of America as the land of opportunity may no longer match the economic reality. In 1940, 90% of children would go on to outearn their parents; today, only 50% of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) are expected to do the same. It's now easier to climb the economic ladder in Sweden, Germany, France, and Japan than in the United States."
Longstanding American allies are growing skeptical of U.S. leadership while simultaneously imagining the possibilities of American-designed artificial intelligence. Nearly every Davos panel focused on AI's societal transformation. Venture capital in 2025 concentrated value in AI, with about 70% of deals by value going to AI companies, even as the number of individual venture deals fell to the lowest in twenty quarters. Fewer deals could mean fewer startups, fewer new ideas, and fewer jobs, reducing economic dynamism. Intergenerational mobility has declined and wealth concentration has increased, harming social cohesion, democracy, and national security. Some businesses are beginning to change course.
Read at Fortune
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