California companies have attracted around $366 billion in venture capital this year, or about 90% of all U.S. venture funding, according to PitchBook. The total is more than three times the funding committed to the other 49 states combined and nearly double California’s previous record, set in 2025. Artificial intelligence companies accounted for 86 cents of every venture dollar raised, with Anthropic and OpenAI alone responsible for half of the state’s total. New York ranked second with $27 billion in announced deals. The investment surge has continued despite complaints about California’s business costs and regulation, opposition to a proposed billionaire tax, and concerns that AI is crowding out other sectors. The state’s economy grew 5% last year to $4.25 trillion, while updated forecasts point to a $4.5 billion fiscal surplus instead of an earlier projected $12.6 billion deficit.