Crunchbase News: Strategic, Not Speculative: The New Shape Of AI Acquisitions

In this article, we discuss how AI mergers and acquisitions have evolved from speculative bets into strategically driven infrastructure plays. Using Crunchbase data, the piece highlights a sharp rise in deal volume alongside a widening gap between small, purposeful acquisitions and billion-dollar infrastructure buys like OpenAI’s $6.5B acquisition of Io. The article explores how AI is no longer about novelty or flashy demos, but about reliability, deployment, and solving hard, expensive problems at scale — especially in regulated sectors. As new buyers like Mastercard and ServiceNow enter the market with focused intent, the landscape is rewarding companies that are difficult to replace, efficient, and integrated, signaling a broader shift from AI hype to operational necessity.

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