AI financing reaches a new high, but other technology sectors may enter a winter season.

According to data from PitchBook, the financing amount of global AI companies in the third quarter increased by 27% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the total transaction volume of startups decreased by 31% compared to the same period last year, reaching 73 billion US dollars.

These two completely opposite trends highlight the difference between AI startups and other industries. With rising interest rates and the uncertainty of the post-pandemic era, venture capital faces severe challenges, and artificial intelligence has become one of the few bright spots in the venture capital industry. In particular, generative AI technology, which has the ability to generate realistic images and artificial text based on short prompts, has attracted the attention of a wide range of users and investors, bringing billions of dollars in financing to some large companies.

Some venture capitalists compare the AI boom to the rise of the Internet consumer revolution, calling it the "AI moment" of the Internet. Just as the Internet may have been relatively complex and difficult to use in its early stages, over time, the user interface became more friendly and intuitive, making it easier for more people to use Internet services and functions. AI has also flourished thanks to user-friendly programs such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

This enthusiasm has overshadowed the large-scale decline in technology stocks. Although companies like OpenAI frequently make headlines, according to PitchBook data, most sub-sectors in the technology field, including information technology hardware, medical services, and consumer goods, have experienced a decline compared to the same period last year.

Even artificial intelligence is not immune to the pressure of startups. The total amount of financing in this industry is still lower than it was two years ago, during the peak of the pandemic technology boom. The success of AI is mainly driven by large transactions from a few outstanding companies, including Anthropic and OpenAI.

The hype surrounding AI has led to a cautious attitude in other industries. Take enterprise software as an example, which was highly sought after a few years ago. During that period, venture capitalists were excited about enterprise software, partly because of the large-scale IPOs of companies like UiPath(PATH.US) and Snowflake (SNOW.US).

Kong Inc. is a startup that has benefited from the hype of 2021. The company helps manage communication between software applications. In a deal led by Tiger Global Management, the company raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion, with participation from other companies such as Goldman Sachs, Index Ventures, and CRV.

Kong continues to perform well, with cash inflows exceeding outflows in recent months. The company's founder, Augusto Marietti, stated that his business has benefited from the AI boom, as the widespread application of AI has driven demand for their product. However, it cannot be ignored that the spotlight has shifted to pure AI companies.In the recent earnings report season, Marietti mentioned feeling tired of AI for every company. What reassured him was that even without mentioning AI, the stock price of Apple (AAPL.US) continued to rise.

Marietti stated that Kong is gradually integrating AI capabilities, but this does not make it a pure AI company. It also does not mean that it cannot continue to achieve growth and earn substantial profits. He said, "We don't need to feel anxious about our identity or role, we just need to continue to persist firmly and unwaveringly."