A first-of-its-kind survey of venture capitalists active across North America, Europe, and other international markets finds widespread interest in responsible AI as an emerging investment opportunity.
Over 90% of those polled saw major investment opportunities in AI infrastructure that prioritizes responsible design, including assurance systems, governance tooling, and trust-enabling technologies.
Today, these and other findings were released at the LP/VC MiniFrame Summit, hosted by Reframe Venture – together with Project Liberty Institute, and Omidyar Network – at the Mellon Foundation in New York City. Full survey results can be found in the White Paper.
Conducted between September 2025 and February 2026 by Reframe Venture, in collaboration with Project Liberty Institute and ImpactVC, the survey documents the views of 56 VC investors representing a range of roles, fund sizes, and varied stages and sectors. The research team also completed in-depth interviews with 30 VC investors and LPs managing more than $500 billion in assets.
Seventy-three percent of respondents believe companies with stronger responsible data and AI practices are more likely to succeed financially. Among investors with more than five years of experience, that rises to 83%.
This emerging investment thesis reflects a broader shift in the AI market. Tomicah Tillemann, President of Project Liberty Institute, explains:
“Every major technology wave has created its greatest returns not simply from applications alone, but from the trust infrastructure that made adoption possible. The same dynamic is playing out in AI, and the investors who see this opportunity will define the category.”
The survey findings suggest that responsible AI is moving beyond a compliance consideration and emerging as a new venture category with significant commercial potential.
“One signal from venture investors managing billions globally stands out: the infrastructure that makes AI trustworthy is becoming investable. Responsible AI is rapidly shifting from a compliance afterthought to a core layer. The investors we work with increasingly see it as the foundation for the next generation of AI companies,”
said Paul Fehlinger, Senior Director of Policy, Investment and Innovation at Project Liberty Institute.
The survey is part of a broader VC initiative unfolding over the past eight months; Project Liberty Institute, Reframe Venture, and Impact VC collaborated with investors and asset allocators around the world to better understand how capital markets are responding to the rise of AI.
The initiative, launched at SuperVenture Berlin in 2025, has engaged more than 200 venture capital funds through conferences, workshops, and research engagements across Paris, Berlin, London, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, San Francisco, and Cape Cod, and is building on the wider LP process Project Liberty Institute leads in partnership with ReframeVenture and Omidyar Network. The effort has already reached over 80 limited partners representing over $6 trillion in assets under management across markets.
For Dr. Johannes Lenhard, CEO and Co-Founder of Reframe Venture, the findings reflect a growing convergence in conversations taking place across the venture ecosystem:
“This survey reflects many of the conversations we are having with limited partners and venture investors in our community around the world. What makes this White Paper distinctive is that it examines both sides of the equation — the systemic risks posed by AI and the emerging investment opportunities in building more trustworthy technologies.”
Within the venture capital community, these conversations have evolved significantly in recent years. What began largely as a discussion about risk management and governance is increasingly becoming part of mainstream investment thinking.
According to Jeb Bell, Executive Director at Project Liberty Institute, this evolution reflects the growing maturity of the AI market itself.
“Project Liberty Institute has been engaging investors on these questions since 2024. What we are seeing now is a clear trend: More venture investors are beginning to recognize that the future of AI markets will increasingly depend on technologies that people and institutions can trust.”
For Oliver Nixon, Research Lead at Reframe Venture, who led the research, the results confirm that responsible AI is no longer viewed purely through a governance lens.
“Our sample includes investors from some of the largest VC firms globally. The results point consistently in the same direction: responsible AI is increasingly seen not only as a governance challenge but as a driver of long-term value creation.”
The survey builds on the collaboration among Reframe Venture, ImpactVC, and Project Liberty Institute, including the Responsible AI Due Diligence Toolkit for venture investors, released in December 2025 as the first practical framework specifically designed for venture capital investment processes.
Douglas Sloan, Managing Director of ImpactVC, sees the findings as an early signal that a new segment of the impact investment market may be taking shape.
“This points to the emergence of a new impact vertical around responsible AI,” said Sloan. “Investors are increasingly recognizing that technologies which strengthen trust, accountability, and human agency in AI systems can not only address important challenges, but can also represent compelling long-term investment opportunities.”
Looking ahead, Project Liberty Institute and its partners plan to continue engaging venture capital firms, asset owners, policymakers, and entrepreneurs worldwide to help catalyze investment in a better AI economy that gives people more of a voice, choice, and stake in the technology’s future.