Kleiner Perkins Raises $3.5 Billion to Invest in the AI Boom

Kleiner Perkins, the half-century-old venture capital institution, is raising $3.5 billion to make bets on artificial intelligence startups reshaping industries including software, health care, transportation and autonomy.

The firm — best known for its early industry-defining investments in companies like Google and Amazon.com Inc. — will dedicate $1 billion of the new cash to its 22nd early-stage fund, targeted at finding promising AI upstarts. The other $2.5 billion will be focused on investing in growth-stage companies, larger startups that include increasingly cash-hungry artificial intelligence players.