Andreessen Horowitz has raised $1.1 billion for a new Machine Age Fund, its first vehicle dedicated to the physical layer of AI. The fund will back companies building AI processors, memory, networking equipment, storage, robotics and data-center infrastructure, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch.
Days later, the firm said it had expanded its fifth Growth fund to $8.5 billion, up from the $6.75 billion it announced in January. The growth practice has operated for seven years and backed more than 100 companies, including Databricks, OpenAI and SpaceX.
The physical bottleneck
a16z's argument is that every part of the AI hardware supply chain — from chips to memory to power — is capacity constrained. The firm cited a 28x increase in compute density per rack between an H100 rack and a Rubin rack. Partners named on the launch include Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, Raghu Raghuram, David Ulevitch and David George.
Context
The $1.1 billion is a small slice of a firm that manages more than $100 billion. a16z has been among the most active lead investors in recent months, co-leading Armadin's $255.5 million Series B and EliseAI's $350 million round, and backing Valon.
Fund sizes reflect capital committed by limited partners, not capital already invested.
