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Early adoption · Adopters

US firms using AI (Census BTOS)

Share of US businesses reporting AI use in any business function in the last two weeks, Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey. The question changed in November 2025, so this is the post-break series.

Reason through this

The reading

About one firm in five, rising a point or two a quarter: the speed at which organisations change, not the speed at which models improve.

Every readingeach dot links to its record
us · 17.3% (16.9%–17.7%) · 2025-11-16 · measuredus · 17.2% (16.7%–17.7%) · 2025-11-30 · measuredus · 17.8% (16.9%–18.7%) · 2025-12-14 · measuredus · 17.7% (17.1%–18.3%) · 2025-12-28 · measuredus · 18.2% (17.7%–18.7%) · 2026-01-11 · measuredus · 18.9% (18.1%–19.7%) · 2026-01-25 · measuredus · 17.5% (16.7%–18.3%) · 2026-02-08 · measuredus · 18.2% (17.6%–18.8%) · 2026-02-22 · measuredus · 18.9% (18.3%–19.5%) · 2026-03-08 · measuredus · 19.1% (18.3%–19.9%) · 2026-03-22 · measuredus · 19.8% (19.2%–20.4%) · 2026-04-05 · measuredus · 19.8% (19.3%–20.3%) · 2026-04-19 · measuredus · 19.8% · 2026-05-03 · measuredus · 19.5% (19.0%–20.0%) · 2026-05-03 · measuredus · 20.6% (20.0%–21.2%) · 2026-05-17 · measuredus · 20.6% (20.1%–21.1%) · 2026-05-31 · measuredus · 20.6% (19.8%–21.4%) · 2026-06-14 · measuredus · 21.7% (21.1%–22.3%) · 2026-06-28 · measuredus · 21.5% (20.7%–22.3%) · 2026-07-12 · measuredus · 21.8% (21.2%–22.4%) · 2026-07-26 · measuredus · 22.4% (21.7%–23.1%) · 2026-08-09 · measuredus · 23.2% (22.7%–23.7%) · 2026-08-23 · measuredus · 23.8% (23.3%–24.3%) · 2026-09-06 · measuredus · 23.8% (23.0%–24.6%) · 2026-09-20 · measuredus · 24.6% (24.1%–25.1%) · 2026-10-04 · measured
a readingintervalnormal rangefast range
measured

25 readings drawn from census_btos.us.ai_use_share_v2.2w, one of 2 series listed under How it is measured; 25 observations in the evidence.

Source: Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey.

The numbers
as ofreadingvaluerecord
2026-10-04us24.6% (24.1%–25.1%)measured
2026-09-20us23.8% (23.0%–24.6%)measured
2026-09-06us23.8% (23.3%–24.3%)measured
2026-08-23us23.2% (22.7%–23.7%)measured
2026-08-09us22.4% (21.7%–23.1%)measured
2026-07-26us21.8% (21.2%–22.4%)measured
2026-07-12us21.5% (20.7%–22.3%)measured
2026-06-28us21.7% (21.1%–22.3%)measured
2026-06-14us20.6% (19.8%–21.4%)measured
2026-05-31us20.6% (20.1%–21.1%)measured
2026-05-17us20.6% (20.0%–21.2%)measured
2026-05-03us19.5% (19.0%–20.0%)measured
2026-05-03us19.8%measured
2026-04-19us19.8% (19.3%–20.3%)measured
2026-04-05us19.8% (19.2%–20.4%)measured
2026-03-22us19.1% (18.3%–19.9%)measured
2026-03-08us18.9% (18.3%–19.5%)measured
2026-02-22us18.2% (17.6%–18.8%)measured
2026-02-08us17.5% (16.7%–18.3%)measured
2026-01-25us18.9% (18.1%–19.7%)measured
2026-01-11us18.2% (17.7%–18.7%)measured
2025-12-28us17.7% (17.1%–18.3%)measured
2025-12-14us17.8% (16.9%–18.7%)measured
2025-11-30us17.2% (16.7%–17.7%)measured
2025-11-16us17.3% (16.9%–17.7%)measured

Why it matters

The broadest official count of whether businesses use AI at all, from a Census Bureau survey sent to 1.2 million firms every two weeks. Every firm counts once, so small businesses dominate; weighted by employees, use is higher.

What cuts against it

Series break in November 2025 (the pre-break series is shown as v1); 'AI use' is self-defined by respondents; the count is dominated by very small firms.

How it is measured
  • series census_btos.us.ai_use_share_v2.2w
  • series census_btos.us.ai_use_share_v1.2w
  • source Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey · default tier 4 · Public domain (U.S. government)
  • proxy behaviour, deployment · cadence biweekly · valve product to adoption

Normal = under about a third of firms in year three, the pace at which PCs and e-commerce reached half of firms over a decade or more; fast = more than half. Ramp's card-spend index (>50%) is a different instrument and not comparable.

Applied to census_btos.us.ai_use_share_v2.2w.

Latest readings
  • 2026-10-04 us · 24.6%(24.1%–25.1%)as of 2026-10-04
  • 2026-09-20 us · 23.8%(23.0%–24.6%)as of 2026-09-20
  • 2026-09-06 us · 23.8%(23.3%–24.3%)as of 2026-09-06
  • 2026-08-23 us · 23.2%(22.7%–23.7%)as of 2026-08-23
  • 2026-08-09 us · 22.4%(21.7%–23.1%)as of 2026-08-09
  • 2026-07-26 us · 21.8%(21.2%–22.4%)as of 2026-07-26
Why this status, and its history

Census BTOS, post-November-2025 instrument: 19.8% of firms using AI in any business function as of 3 May 2026 (Census story, 26 May 2026), inside the normal band (<=35%). The National.xlsx cycle ending 9 Aug 2026 shows 22.4%; that value needs the XLSX connector. Initial seed.

  1. 2026-09-10unmeasured to consistent with normalconf — → 70 · initial seed (model-drafted)

    Census BTOS, post-November-2025 instrument: 19.8% of firms using AI in any business function as of 3 May 2026 (Census story, 26 May 2026), inside the normal band (<=35%). The National.xlsx cycle ending 9 Aug 2026 shows 22.4%; that value needs the XLSX connector. Initial seed.

    source1
Why this confidence

Rests on 25 observations from Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey; best evidence tier 4, grade A; current.

Confidence is independent of status: 90–95 multiple strong independent sources; 70–89 good evidence, some ambiguity; 50–69 mixed or hard to operationalise; 0–49 limited or vague evidence.

Predictions that lean on this