Businesses Embracing AI Technology: What is the Number of Companies Implementing AI?
AI's popularity among businesses is undeniable as they seek to boost productivity and cut costs. By analyzing AI adoption rates, we can identify which industries and regions are leading the charge. Despite the widespread perception that AI integration is everywhere, it's not quite as widespread as it seems.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey, just 6.8% of businesses are currently using AI to produce goods or services. However, this figure is projected to increase to 9.3% within the next six months. Considering AI's perceived game-changing potential for businesses, these percentages might seem low.
There might be several explanations for this discrepancy:
- The Census survey only considers AI use for producing goods or services. Back-office functions, like marketing or project management, might be using AI, but not under this definition.
- Some businesses might be unaware that they're utilizing AI tools. For instance, employees who use AI tools without the company's explicit strategy might not realize the AI presence.
- AI's application cases are still fairly limited, and large-scale usage can be complex and expensive.
AI Adoption by State
Delaware leads the way with an 11.6% AI usage rate. Utah, North Carolina, Florida, and California follow closely behind. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 1.5% of businesses in Hawaii employ AI, with a projected usage rate of 1.6% in the next six months.
AI Adoption by City
The greater San Diego area boasts the highest current and projected AI usage rates. Other metropolitan areas with high AI adoption include Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, and Washington D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria.
On the opposite side, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and New York-Newark-Jersey City rank at the bottom for both current and projected AI usage.
AI Adoption by Sector
Information companies lead in AI adoption with a 21.3% usage rate and a 28.1% projected usage rate. Other high-adoption industries include professional services and educational services. Interestingly, agriculture, a labor-intensive sector, has the lowest AI usage rate, and during our last survey, only 1.3% of agriculture companies reported using AI.
AI Adoption by Business Size
Large companies with 250 or more employees are the most likely to incorporate AI into their operations, with a usage rate of 12.4%. Surprisingly, small businesses with 1-4 employees have the second-highest usage rate at 7.3%.
AI's adoption varies across industries and locations. The United States, with its significant investment in AI, leads the global market. Based on the population’s and workforce's AI usage, the demand for AI integration is high, especially in certain industries like retail, IT, and automotive.
As AI becomes more affordable, we should expect an increase in adoption across industries and regions. Companies will continue to explore AI's potential to boost productivity and gain a competitive edge. With the rapid development of semi-intelligent and autonomous systems, AI adoption is certainly on the rise.
Sources:
- U.S. Census Bureau (2025). “Business Trends and Outlook Survey.”
- Anthropic (2025). “Introducing the Anthropic Economic Index.”
- KPMG (2025). “KPMG: Future of AI Report.”
- Statista (2025). “AI Market in the United States 2024.”
- Businesses are conducting extensive research to incorporate AI into their finance operations, aiming to improve their financial outlook and gain a competitive edge.
- The biweekly AI industry reports suggest that AI is being used in various back-office functions, such as marketing and project management, beyond just producing goods or services.
- The widespread use of AI in census data collection and analysis is helping to paint a more accurate picture of AI adoption rates across different industries and regions.
- To fully realize the potential of AI, companies need to invest in training and education, as well as allocate resources to accommodate the complexities and costs associated with large-scale AI implementation.
