The State of AI Usage
A plain read on AI adoption across the economy: which industries use it, how that splits by company size, and which tools businesses pay for. Built on free government and transaction data, refreshed monthly.
Last updated June 24, 2026 · next review July 22, 2026
These four numbers measure different things on purpose. Firm surveys count businesses, worker surveys count people, and spend trackers read what companies pay for. The spread is the story. See why the numbers disagree.
Share of firms using AI, by industry
Percent of businesses in each sector reporting AI use in any business function.
Dotted line marks the 19.8% national average. † Dec 2025 reading from the Federal Reserve FEDS note; all others May 2026 Census BTOS.
Which AI tools businesses pay for
Share of U.S. businesses with paid spend on each vendor, from corporate card and bill-pay transactions. Vendor-reported, treat as directional.
Paid AI adoption crossed 50.4% in Mar 2026, up from about 35% a year earlier (Mar 2025). Ramp tracks spend share, not every vendor, so read this as the direction of the race rather than a full market split.
Business adoption over time: Anthropic overtakes OpenAI
Percent of U.S. businesses paying for each vendor, by month (Ramp AI Index, directional).
Which AI tools people use
Share of consumer AI assistant use, latest reading. Clickstream-based, vendor and analyst-reported, treat as directional.
Consumer use over time: ChatGPT slips as Gemini and Claude climb
Share of consumer AI assistant use, by month (First Page Sage / Similarweb, directional). Lines use the dated points each source reported, so spacing reflects real gaps.
AI use climbs with company size
Percent of firms in each employee-count band reporting AI use.
Large firms lead. Roughly 37% of businesses with 250 or more employees use AI, against under 20% of the smallest firms (Census BTOS, May 2026).
Why the headline numbers disagree
Different surveys ask different people. Firm-level surveys count businesses, worker-level surveys count people, and spend-based trackers read what companies actually pay for. The result is a wide spread, and each number answers a different question.
| Survey | What it measures | Reading | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census BTOS | Share of U.S. businesses using AI | 18% | Dec 2025 |
| Real-Time Population Survey | Share of the workforce using GenAI at work | 41% | Nov 2025 |
| Survey of Business Uncertainty | Share of the workforce at firms that have adopted AI | 78% | Nov 2025 |
The BTOS is the best single read on the share of U.S. businesses using AI. The RPS is the best read on the share of workers using it. The SBU sets a rough upper bound on workforce access to AI tools.
Sources
Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS)
Biweekly, nationally representative AI-use rates by sector, state and firm size. Public domain.
View source →Ramp AI Index
Monthly AI adoption and vendor spend share from 70,000+ firms on corporate card and bill pay. Vendor-reported.
View source →First Page Sage / Similarweb AI assistant market share
Clickstream-based share of consumer AI assistant use by tool, updated monthly. Analyst-reported, directional.
View source →Federal Reserve, Monitoring AI Adoption in the U.S. Economy
Reconciles firm, worker and employment-weighted surveys, with sector and firm-size detail.
View source →Stanford HAI AI Index
Annual benchmark on organizational adoption and labor-market effects, used here for context.
View source →The tracker shows the trend. We build the strategy.
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- Built on free, primary-source data
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