TLDR Tech / Founders
The AI Acqui-Hire Wave
Between 2020 and 2025, there were 5,700 AI acquisitions - and 79% of them never disclosed a price. That's 4,500 quiet talent grabs where small teams got absorbed into bigger companies with zero fanfare. Accenture leads with 21 AI acquisitions (only three disclosed). Apple has 17 (two disclosed). The 75th percentile deal size tripled from $82M to $248M. Forget the billion-dollar headlines - the acqui-hire wave is the real story of AI M&A, and almost nobody is paying attention.
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