Analytics company CB Insights has released a new analysis showing investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been declining across the world, plunging 34% to $45.8 billion last year.

The analysis showed the decline in investment was directly related to the broader slowdown in venture-funding which was seen in 2022. The total number of deals regarding AI also declined, dropping 10% to 2,965. The company noted there was a slight rebound in the fourth quarter, to $9.3 billion, although the number of total deals continued to decline through the period.

In 2022, the report noted there were 166 AI unicorns, including 34 new additions. The number of mega-rounds plummeted 39% in 2022 from the previous year’s record high, down to just 115. Those deals represented a 47% decline in funding year over year, to $21.8 billion.

CB Insights wrote in the report, “Europe bucked the broader trend for AI investment activity,” as deals for the technology increased to a record 616 in the region, although the total investment in the sector fell 9% to $6.2 billion.

The report said, “The UK drove a great deal of this activity, accounting for 48% of Europe’s AI funding and 32% of its deals in 2022.”

As global venture capital funding slowed down at a record pace in 2022, the slowdown happened even faster for AI startups since the macroeconomic pressures underpinning the slowdown for tech companies hit the speculative, undeveloped sector of AI even harder.