AI Startups Stockpile Cash in Preparation for Bubble Collapse
Date
Dec 29, 2025
Classification
- Startups
#
- Investment/Market Trends
The Inside Story of Successful AI Unicorns Suddenly Hoarding 'Cash'
🫑 3-Line Summary
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Investment in U.S. AI startups reached a record high of $150 billion (approximately 215 trillion won) in 2025, surpassing the boom of 2021.
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However, behind this massive money move lies not only 'growth' but also the fear of preparing for a potential 'AI bubble collapse' that may occur after 2026.
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VCs advise to "secure cash and expand the 'runway' even if it means accepting equity dilution," urging the construction of a "cash fortress" for survival.
🥦 Insight
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You're supposed to buy winter clothes in the summer.
On the surface, it appears to be an investment frenzy, but in reality, it is closer to 'building a bomb shelter.' Players have already sensed that an investment ice age could arrive at any time due to interest rate fluctuations and the risk of delayed monetization. When a recession hits, 'cash runway'—rather than revenue growth—determines a company's survival.
The cash you have accumulated now will become a powerful weapon to acquire competitors or secure valuable technology when a crisis strikes later. This is a time when the startup adage, "If you go around begging for money when you have none, you will fail," comes to mind once again. Isn't preparing for the worst-case scenario, especially when things are going well, the true measure of competence?
🥄 A spoonful of execution
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Recalculate our company's 'Burn Rate' and 'Runway' right today. "If additional investment is zero starting tomorrow, how many months can we survive?" The answer to this question is the starting point of your survival strategy.
—— View Original ——
Promising artificial intelligence (AI) startups in Silicon Valley, USA, have reportedly attracted the largest amount of investment in their history this year.
Analysis suggests that while the AI boom led to a surge in large-scale investments in leading companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, advice from investors to build financial safeguards in advance to prepare for a potential AI bubble collapse also fueled increased fundraising. Companies are being evaluated as having fortified financial structures by establishing a "cash buffer zone" to prepare for uncertain market conditions, going beyond simply securing growth capital.
On the 28th (local time), the Financial Times (FT), citing data from market research firm PitchBook, reported that the fundraising volume of major privately held U.S. AI companies is projected to reach $150 billion (approximately 215 trillion won) in 2025, significantly exceeding the previous record high of $92 billion set in 2021.
This record was driven by a few massive "mega deals." OpenAI secured a large amount of cash this March through a $41 billion investment led by Japan's SoftBank, and Anthropic also raised $13 billion last September.
When combined with Meta's $14 billion investment in data labeling startup ScaleAI and Elon Musk's $10 billion raised by xAI, the total investment raised from these deals alone amounts to $78 billion.
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