There will be a resurgence in technology mergers and acquisitions in 2025, as tech giants and companies in other sectors look to profit from significant investments in generative artificial intelligence (AI). Meta Platforms’ acquisition of Chinese AI startup Manas for over $2 billion already indicates that the pace will continue to be intense in 2026. The key currency in many of these deals is highly skilled experts who can get AI projects off the ground.
According to a forecast by consulting firm Bain & Company, total global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will reach $4.8 trillion in 2025. This represents a 36% increase compared to 2024, when total transaction value was $3.5 trillion. This was the highest amount in a decade, second only to 2021, when transaction value reached $5.6 trillion at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
In terms of volume, 7,600 M&A transactions involving deals over $30 million were recorded worldwide in 2025, an increase of 5.6% year-on-year. This indicates an increasing concentration of capital per transaction. So-called megadeals (totaling more than $5 billion) accounted for more than 75% of the incremental value created by M&A activity last year, Bain said.
Notable big tech deals include Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz in March 2025. Palo Alto Networks acquired identity security specialist CyberArk in July for $25 billion. and AI Infrastructure Partnership’s (AIP) $40 billion acquisition of data center operator Aligned Data Centers. The consortium includes Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as investment funds BlackRock and MGX, to accelerate AI infrastructure.
The M&A figures do not include a series of multibillion-dollar investments in artificial intelligence companies, including SoftBank’s $40 billion investment in OpenAI and Metaplatforms’ $14.3 billion investment in startup Scale AI in June.
According to a Bain report, nearly half of the $500 million-plus strategic technology deal value in 2025 will involve companies that are AI-native or that cite AI-related benefits.
Highly specialized AI talent is a key attraction for technology mergers and acquisitions, not just in Silicon Valley but around the world.
“What we’re seeing is that these are not acquisitions of technology or AI models,” said Jose Medeiros, partner at San Pedro Capital’s global technology investment fund. “These are acquisitions of people who actually know how to develop and scale AI models within a company and turn it into a business.” Such experts are “worth their weight in gold,” he added.
As an example, Medeiros cited the multi-million dollar hiring package that Meta Platforms offered in mid-2025 to engineers at companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple and Anthropic. “In some cases like Meta, it’s sometimes easier to buy the company and bring in the entire engineering team,” he says.
The total value of mergers and acquisitions involving companies and investment funds in the technology sector reached $478 billion by November 15, 2025, an increase of 76% compared to the 2024 total. This was the biggest increase among the sectors with the most M&A activity last year, according to a Bain report based on data from financial information platform Dealogic.
From January to mid-November 2025, mergers and acquisitions involving technology companies had the third highest cumulative value across all sectors. Manufacturing and services ranked first in trade value with $717 billion, followed by energy and natural resources with $554 billion.
José Medeiros, partner at San Pedro Capital, said the acquisition of artificial intelligence startups has proven attractive to both investors and founders with promising ideas who lack the necessary capital to scale their businesses.
“Developing an AI product is exciting for small businesses, but it’s very difficult to scale it with the sales force, implementation capabilities, and customer service structure that OpenAI has,” he said. “This is where a lot of companies get stuck and end up being acquired.”
Beyond the rapid adoption of AI, the rebound in mergers and acquisitions also reflects strategic shifts among companies across sectors, driven by changes in trade policy, including import tariffs, imposed during the Donald Trump administration, and the slow growth in global business activity, Bain said.
Medeiros also noted that the loosening of merger and acquisition regulations under the Biden administration has helped boost deals in the technology sector. “During the Biden administration, there was regulatory extremism at the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and Department of Justice (DOJ) that created significant obstacles,” he said.
For Medeiros, who has worked in Silicon Valley since the mid-1990s, the Trump administration should inject dynamism and foster competition in the technology sector, especially as competition from China intensifies, rather than encouraging the formation of monopolies. “AI is advancing very rapidly under the Trump administration because no one wants to be left behind,” he said. “The number of deals increased last year and will increase even more this year. This is very positive for the technology market, especially the US.”
