Nearly three-quarters of global venture capital funding is flowing to artificial intelligence companies in the United States, while Korean firms receive just 1% of the worldwide total, according to new data.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday released an analysis of venture capital statistics from the OECD AI Policy Observatory. The data showed that global AI venture investment reached $158.4 billion (approximately 233.5 trillion won) through the third quarter of this year, roughly quadruple the $40 billion invested in 2015.
AI's share of total venture capital has surged from 20% in 2015 to 55.7% in 2025, with investment accelerating sharply since 2023 when generative AI emerged. More than half of all global venture funding now flows to AI.
By country, the United States captured 72% of this year's AI venture investment, or $114 billion, up from 64.4% last year, indicating an intensifying concentration. The United Kingdom ranked second with $11.5 billion, followed by China with $9 billion. Korea placed ninth with $1.57 billion.
Korean companies attracted just 1/73rd of US funding, one-seventh of the UK's total, and one-sixth of China's. Korea's 1% global share contrasts sharply with the UK's 7.3% and China's 5.7%.
The gap is equally stark at the company level. In 2024, Elon Musk's xAI raised $11 billion, while Databricks secured $8.5 billion and OpenAI attracted $6.6 billion. Korea's top AI startup, semiconductor fabless company Rebellions, raised just $140 million.
Experts said Korea urgently needs targeted startup development and regulatory reform to compete in global venture markets.
"We need to systematically support the scale-up of promising AI startups in business models where Korea can secure relative competitive advantages, such as AI semiconductor fabless and physical AI combined with robotics and manufacturing," said Ku Ja-hyun, research fellow at the Korea Development Institute. "In LLM and AI service sectors, the government should make bolder advance purchases so companies can build actual track records, creating a foundation to attract large-scale global investment."
Koo Tae-eon, attorney at law firm Lin, noted that "data utilization regulations, unclear AI liability laws, and unpredictable regulatory enforcement are causing global investors to hesitate investing in Korean AI startups. Policy design should focus on 'supporting innovation' rather than regulation."
Kang Seok-gu, head of KCCI's research division, emphasized that "in AI, where winner-takes-all dynamics are strong, entering the top three nations requires strategically nurturing startups by segmenting AI strength areas based on our competitiveness and market conditions, and above all, reorganizing the regulatory system so diverse business models can enter the market."