Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1 billion for a new fund, the Machine Age Fund, aimed at AI's physical infrastructure, the firm said in a post on its website.
"We've raised $1.1B for a16z's newest fund: the Machine Age Fund," the firm wrote. "It's time to open the throttle and accelerate the physical buildout of AI: the strongest tool ever developed for solving problems and bestowing abundance."
The fund will invest across computer infrastructure such as chips, memory and networking; data centers and cooling systems; robotics and AI-enabled hardware; power generation and electrical systems; and the materials and real estate needed to build all of it, according to a16z. General partners Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, Raghu Raghuram, David Ulevitch and David George are involved in the fund, TechCrunch reported.
a16z built its name on software bets, and this is its clearest move yet into the capital-heavy infrastructure layer underneath AI. For hardware and infrastructure startups that have struggled to raise from software-focused venture firms, it is a new, well-funded buyer with a mandate to spend on exactly that layer.