Dealmaking, after a few challenging years, is showing signs of heating up. What’s leading the way? artificial intelligence, of course.
On Monday, for example, CoreWeave (CRWV) made the second move of 2025’s AI-linked M&A run on Monday with the announcement of a $9 billion acquisition of data center infrastructure provider Core Scientific (CORZ).
Though the market largely lambasted the deal (CoreWeave and Core Scientific were down more than 3% and 17%, respectively, on Monday following the announcement), the acquisition is the latest in a line of big-ticket AI M&A announcements this year.
To be sure, dealmaking environment growth has been tepid through the first half of the year. But there are signs of life. The first half of 2025 has yielded approximately $750 billion in US M&A deals. That compares with 2024’s first-half volume of approximately $720 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Of the $750 billion in deals so far, AI-linked M&A deals announced this year have accounted for more than $65 billion, or a bit less than 10%. Globally, so far this year, there have been more than 240 deals involving AI startups compared to 2024’s total count of 454, according to Mergermarket data reported by trade publication PYMNTS.
The hope is that the AI feeding frenzy will drive further M&A growth in the second half of the year.
Part of what’s driving AI deals right now is the chance for companies with room on their balance sheets to establish themselves as leaders in a burgeoning industry, said Matthew Warner, an M&A lawyer at Clifford Chance. “This unique opportunity to become a new standard bearer helps prop up valuations and drives M&A deal activity because it’s an opportunity that will exist only for this moment in time,” Warner told Yahoo Finance.
In May, Salesforce (CRM) announced an $8 billion all-cash acquisition of AI-driven cloud data management provider Informatica (INFA), building out the CRM giant’s AI infrastructure.
And in July, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) completed its $14 billion all-cash acquisition of AI-native network technology specialist Juniper Networks (JNPR).
Perhaps the marquee deal in the tech-AI space so far in 2025 has been Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) March announcement of its $32 billion all-cash acquisition of cloud security specialist Wiz, which Alphabet will use to enhance its cloud offering.
AI-driven deals in the power sector have also made a mark, driven by the power demands of the industry. Most notably: Constellation Energy’s (CEG) $16.4 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of private natural gas provider Calpine Corp., positioning Constellation as the nation’s largest independent power provider, per Reuters.
