AI

More than 2,300 Israeli AI startups are operating today, according to a report co-produced by Google Israel and RISE Israel — roughly one quarter of the country's technology companies. Israel is one of the world's densest AI startup and engineering ecosystems, anchored by Unit 8200, Talpiot, the Technion, the Weizmann Institute, and a venture stack now backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Insight, Bessemer, Lightspeed, Pitango, and Aleph.

The composition of that ecosystem changed in 2026. Per Calcalist, Nvidia announced plans for a Kiryat Tivon campus designed to accommodate up to 10,000 employees, with occupancy reported around 2031 — the company already employs roughly 5,000 people in Israel. Google completed its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz in March 2026 — the largest exit in Israeli history. AI21 Labs reportedly entered acquisition discussions with Nvidia at a $2–3 billion range, according to Calcalist; those talks did not close, and AI21 has since opened discussions with Nebius, according to The Information.

The pattern is consistent. Israel is the back-end of the global AI stack — talent, infrastructure, foundation models, security, and agentic systems — and the global hyperscalers are buying both directly and through M&A.