The Takeaway
Exceptional returns, narrow leadership. The GenAI 20 Index has delivered an annualized return of 183.6% since June 2023, with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks accounting for more than 80% of cumulative gains.
Private capital is funding AI at unprecedented scale. GenAI 20 Index constituents raised approximately $255 billion over the past year, with nearly 88% of the total going to OpenAI and Anthropic.
The AI value chain is expanding. As AI moves from model development to commercial deployment, companies in inference infrastructure, enterprise agents, and applications are attracting increasingly substantial investment.
The generative AI landscape is evolving at extraordinary speed, and the Morningstar PitchBook GenAI 20 Index[1] provides a barometer of this transformation. By tracking the companies shaping the industry, it offers a window into where value is being created as AI moves from model development to real-world deployment.
Since its inception date in June 2023, the index has generated 183.6% in annualized returns through September 2026.[2] Over the same period, the aggregate post-money valuation of its constituents has risen from roughly $90 billion to more than $2.2 trillion. More than 80% of cumulative returns have come from three companies: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks. The performance reflects investor expectations for the technology - and the concentration that characterizes this fast-growing sector.
Performance Chart
Source: Morningstar, Pitchbook. Data as of Sept 30, 2026. GenAI 20 Index constituents are priced using the latest post-money valuations sourced from PitchBook, in line with the Index methodology. Global Unicorn Index constituents are priced using Morningstar’s MTM pricing methodology.
Performance Summary (%)
Source: Morningstar, Pitchbook. Data as of Sept 30, 2026. GenAI 20 Index constituents are priced using the latest post-money valuations sourced from PitchBook in line with the Index methodology. Global Unicorn Index constituents are priced using Morningstar’s MTM pricing methodology.
Yet the story extends beyond foundation models.[3] As generative AI moves into production, value creation is spreading across the ecosystem. The vast space spans data and model-development platforms, inference infrastructure, deployment tools, enterprise agents, and AI-powered software development. The index reflects this expanding value chain, where a growing number of companies are competing to turn technological advances into commercial applications.
Recent funding rounds illustrate the momentum: Baseten raised $1.5 billion in June at a $13 billion valuation after reporting twentyfold revenue growth. Fireworks AI raised $1.5 billion at a $17.5 billion valuation after surpassing $1 billion in annualized revenue. Cognition, developer of coding agent Devin, raised $2 billion in September at a $48 billion valuation, nearly double its valuation four months earlier. These developments suggest that investor interest is extending beyond the models themselves to the infrastructure and applications that make AI useful in practice.
Funding Rounds of Morningstar PitchBook GenAI 20 Constituents
Source: Morningstar, Pitchbook. Data as of Sept 30, 2026.
The index also reveals a changing investment landscape. Historically, venture capital financed companies through their early development, while public markets captured much of their subsequent growth. GenAI is challenging that evolution. Companies can now raise substantial capital, command enormous valuations, and become strategically important while remaining private for years.
The Morningstar PitchBook GenAI 20 Index’s risk profile reflects private market conventions, where valuations tend to move up decisively when expectations shift, but are slower to adjust downward absent clear impairment. While reported volatility is elevated, it’s asymmetric in nature: Downside deviation (23.3%) is less than half of total volatility (56.6%), and maximum drawdown since inception is negative 2.5%.
For investors, the GenAI 20 Index is more than a measure of risk and return. It is a barometer of an industry in transition, revealing who is shaping the sector, how the sources of value creation are evolving, and why understanding GenAI increasingly requires looking across both private and public markets.
[1] For more information, please refer to the Rulebook.
[2] The Index constituents are priced using the latest post-money valuation sourced from PitchBook.
[3] Foundation models refer to the research and development of general-purpose large language models and alternative model architectures in pursuit of artificial general intelligence.
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