Yet for a growing number of up-and-coming AI executives, a successful tech startup is the end in itself — not a step toward luxury, but a rejection of it. We just really, really want to win,” he continued. In 2024, the share of US venture capitalist spending on AI companies was 45 percent, representing some $40 billion in tech investment. In the first three months of 2025, AI spending accounted for 71 percent of all venture capitalist funding. Whether these 20-somethings are really spending 17 hour days working on finance software is difficult to say.