Artificial intelligence startups are fueling one of the largest wealth creation waves in history, producing dozens of billionaires in just months and sending company valuations to unprecedented heights.
Major funding rounds for Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, Anysphere and others have pushed the number of AI unicorns — private firms valued at $1 billion or more — to 498, with a combined worth of $2.7 trillion, according to CB Insights. A hundred of these companies have emerged since 2023. More than 1,300 AI startups are now worth at least $100 million.
Andrew McAfee, principal researcher at MIT, said the scale and pace of this surge is unparalleled. “Going back over 100 years of data, we have never seen wealth created at this size and speed. It’s unprecedented,” he said.
Notable newcomers include Mira Murati, who left OpenAI last year to launch Thinking Machines Lab. By July, the startup had raised $2 billion in the largest seed round ever, giving it a $12 billion valuation. Anthropic AI is negotiating a $5 billion round that could value the company at $170 billion, nearly triple its worth in March. Anysphere, led by 25-year-old Michael Truell, jumped from a $9.9 billion valuation in June to reported offers as high as $20 billion weeks later.
Most of this wealth remains tied up in private firms, but secondary markets, acquisitions and structured share sales are giving some founders and employees access to cash. OpenAI is exploring a secondary sale that could value the company at $500 billion, up from $300 billion earlier this year.
The boom is centered in the Bay Area, where AI funding has fueled a surge in property prices and billionaire ranks. San Francisco now boasts 82 billionaires, surpassing New York’s 66, and recorded a record number of home sales above $20 million last year.
Tech advisors say today’s AI entrepreneurs may follow the path of dot-com millionaires, initially investing in similar ventures before eventually turning to traditional wealth management. Simon Krinsky of Pathstone said much of the current fortune is illiquid but will become highly sought after once companies go public.
“After people were beaten up or bruised up in the early 2000s, they came around to appreciating some degree of diversification and maybe hiring a professional manager to protect them from themselves,” Krinsky said. “I anticipate a similar trend with the AI group.”
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