The U.S. Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey, covering December 14, 2025 through May 3, 2026, found that AI use among U.S. businesses stayed between 17% and 20%. Between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to use AI within six months.
The gap by size is large: 37% of firms with at least 250 employees reported using AI and 32% of firms with 100 to 249 employees did, while fewer than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees did. By sector, Information led at 39.7%, followed by Finance and Insurance at 33.9%, while Retail Trade was about 14%. The national rate as of May 3 was 19.8%.
The figures are far lower than vendor surveys of large enterprises because Census samples businesses of all sizes and asks a narrower, recent-use question. Adoption among large companies and among the economy as a whole are very different numbers.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau