US venture capital investment is increasingly going to AI

About half of all US VC investment went to AI companies last quarter.

Watch AI eat the VC world in one chart

Nearly half of US venture capital investment went to AI companies last quarter

7/17/24 2:11PM

The share of artificial intelligence venture capital investments in the US has tripled in the last few years, according to data from PitchBook’s Venture Monitor Report that published last week. At $27 billion last quarter, investment in AI and machine learning startups made up nearly half of all investment, up from 15% in 2017.

That’s as venture capital investment overall, which peaked in 2021, has been on the decline in recent years.

But this year, thanks in part to interest in AI and the general hype around the technology, VC spending might get out of its funk. Overall spending is on pace to reach $187 billion in the US in 2024, up about 12 percent from last year.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.