a16z Launches $1.1B Machine Age Fund
a16z launched a $1.1B fund focused on the physical buildout of AI, from chips and data centres to robotics.
A major venture firm is putting more capital behind the physical infrastructure of AI.
What happened
Andreessen Horowitz launched a $1.1B Machine Age fund focused on the physical buildout of AI. The mandate includes chips, memory, networking, storage, data centres, robotics and home AI hardware.
Why it matters
The fund reflects a broader shift in venture capital. AI is no longer seen only as software, models and applications. The bottlenecks are increasingly physical: power, compute, networking, cooling, logistics and robotics.
That makes infrastructure and hardware more attractive to investors that historically focused heavily on software.
The bigger picture
The next AI cycle may be defined by who can build and finance the physical stack beneath the models. Venture capital is following AI demand into deeper, harder and more capital-intensive layers.