2026 US Investment outcomes monitor

Our recently released 2026 U.S. Investment Outcomes Monitor on AI and Digital Infrastructure explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping private capital markets and driving unprecedented investment into the infrastructure powering the next era of technology growth. 

AI is reshaping the technology investment landscape, but the biggest opportunity may not sit solely in applications or software. As AI adoption accelerates, capital is increasingly flowing into the infrastructure required to support it - data centers, power availability, semiconductors, networking and other foundational assets. 

The report finds that venture capital, private equity and M&A activity are all being influenced by the same structural shift: investors are moving from AI hype toward AI deployment, monetization and the physical infrastructure needed to make it possible. Record AI venture investment, rising semiconductor activity, large-scale data center transactions and increasing focus on grid constraints all point to a market where control of critical infrastructure is becoming a key competitive advantage.  

Key trends 

AI investment remains strong, but concentration risk is rising 

AI venture capital deal value reached record levels in early 2026, driven in part by a single major OpenAI financing round. Even excluding that outlier, underlying investment momentum remains strong. 

Data centers and power are now core private equity themes

Private equity interest has moved beyond software into digital infrastructure, with data center operators representing several of the largest recent tech PE deals. Power availability is emerging as a key bottleneck for development. 

Software valuations are being reassessed