The global mergers and acquisitions market is on course for its strongest year in half a decade, with artificial intelligence emerging as the dominant force behind a wave of blockbuster transactions that is reshaping corporate America and the broader global economy.
According to a new report from PwC, worldwide M&A activity is on track to reach $4 trillion in 2026, marking the highest annual deal value since the post-pandemic boom of 2021, when transactions exceeded $5 trillion. The surge is being driven largely by a growing concentration of megadeals, particularly in sectors linked to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, semiconductors, and digital infrastructure.
“2026 is the year M&A supersized,” said Brian Levy, global deals industries leader at PwC US.
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“AI is propelling megadeals, redirecting capital and shuffling sector winners and losers,” Levy said.
“AI is intensifying the K-shaped M&A market and it is forcing dealmakers to radically rethink how deals get done.”
The report highlights a widening divide in the dealmaking landscape. Large corporations with strong balance sheets and access to capital are pursuing increasingly ambitious acquisitions, while mid-sized companies continue to face significant obstacles, including elevated borrowing costs, valuation disagreements, and persistent economic uncertainty.
If current trends continue, transactions valued above $5 billion will account for nearly half of all global deal value this year. PwC estimates that megadeal values could rise 40% year-on-year in 2026.
That shift is striking as deals above $5 billion represented just 26% of global M&A value in 2024. The figure rose to 39% in 2025 and now stands at 48% in 2026, illustrating how the market has become increasingly dominated by a small number of massive transactions.
This indicates that corporations are in a race to secure strategic assets that can strengthen their positions in the AI economy. Rather than building every capability internally, many companies are choosing to acquire technologies, talent pools, and infrastructure that can accelerate their AI ambitions. The result is a growing concentration of capital around a relatively small number of highly valued AI firms.
Among the most significant transactions this year is the agreement by SpaceX to acquire AI startup Cursor in a deal valued at $60 billion. The acquisition is expected to strengthen SpaceX’s artificial intelligence capabilities as it seeks to compete more aggressively against leading AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The transaction also highlights how AI is increasingly becoming central to corporate strategy across industries that were once considered unrelated to artificial intelligence. SpaceX’s evolution from a space and satellite company into a broader AI and infrastructure player reflects a trend occurring across the technology sector.
Another major deal involves Salesforce, which agreed to acquire AI customer service platform Fin for $3.6 billion. The deal goes beyond an expansion of Salesforce’s product portfolio, with many seeing it as an effort to protect its long-term relevance as agentic AI begins to challenge traditional software-as-a-service business models.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm is reportedly exploring a takeover of AI chip company Modular in a transaction that could value the target at around $4 billion. Such a move would further intensify competition in the semiconductor industry, where companies are racing to develop hardware capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated AI workloads.
The growing dominance of AI-related acquisitions is transforming how investors assess corporate value.
Historically, mergers and acquisitions were often driven by cost synergies, market expansion, or consolidation opportunities. Increasingly, however, companies are pursuing acquisitions primarily to secure technological capabilities and specialized talent.
This trend is particularly visible in the AI sector, where experienced researchers and engineers remain in short supply. Acquiring an AI company often provides access not only to technology but also to teams that might otherwise be difficult to recruit.
The boom is also helping revive global dealmaking after several years of subdued activity caused by higher interest rates, inflation concerns, and geopolitical tensions.
Yet PwC cautions that the benefits are not being distributed evenly.
“Many mid-market dealmakers remain constrained by geopolitical uncertainty, valuation gaps, slowing growth, higher inflation and interest rates, and a private equity exit backlog that remains stubbornly high,” the report noted.
Private equity firms remain under pressure to exit investments accumulated during previous years, but many continue to struggle to achieve acceptable valuations in a higher-rate environment.
As a result, the M&A recovery is increasingly concentrated among large strategic buyers capable of financing transformative acquisitions.
Looking ahead, PwC believes AI could eventually reshape the mechanics of dealmaking itself.
The firm argues that artificial intelligence may improve asset valuation, due diligence processes, and transaction analysis, potentially making private markets more efficient and liquid over time.
“Over time, AI could make private markets more liquid by making assets easier to evaluate and trade,” PwC said.
The firm added that future dealmaking will increasingly combine machine-driven analysis with human judgment.
“That is where trust will sit.”
The broader implication is that AI is no longer simply another technology sector attracting investment. It is becoming the central force influencing capital allocation across industries, determining which companies attract funding, which become acquisition targets, and which risk being left behind.
If the current pace continues, 2026 will not only be remembered as one of the strongest years for mergers and acquisitions since the pandemic-era boom. It may also mark the point at which artificial intelligence became the primary engine driving global corporate dealmaking.