What a16z is actually funding (and what it’s ignoring) when it comes to AI infra

Andreessen Horowitz just raised a whopping new $15 billion in funding. And a $1.7 billion chunk of that is going to its infrastructure team, the one responsible for some of its biggest, most prominent AI investments, including Black Forest Labs, Cursor, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Ideogram, Fal, and dozens of others.  

a16z general partner with the infra team Jennifer Li (who oversees such investments as ElevenLabs — just valued at $11 billion) has a clear thesis on where the team is looking to spend it’s latest chunk of cash. 

These investors are no strangers to billion-dollar budgets. When the firm raised $7.2 billion in 2024, the infra team was handed $1.25 billion at the time, more than any other vertical team. 

So what’s so exciting about infrastructure, especially in 2026? It covers everything from chip design all the way up to any software stack used by developers. This is the heartbeat of AI development and it is undergoing a never-before-seen transformation process, both in how AI is being used in these areas (AI coding) and the AI available to devs (ElevenLabs voice models, and Fal’s multi-modal model marketplace).   

So Li is on the front lines of where AI is today, where it is going in 2026, and what is and likely may never be possible. She’s, for instance, skeptical about some of the industry’s biggest assumptions, including the idea that AI will replace human creativity anytime soon. 

Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Venture and Startups Editor Julie Bort talked with Li about where a16z sees this AI super cycle going next, including the talent crunch hitting AI-native startups, why search infrastructure matters more than people think, and what kinds of companies are actually getting funded right now. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about: 

Where Li thinks the gaps still are when it comes to startups building an AI stack 

What makes the most successful AI portfolio companies different 

How tools like voice AI are rising in importance (yet still a bit uncomfortable to witness) 

The AI startups she’s still searching for and is ready to fund 

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