After three years of unprecedented tech spending and nonstop hype, the demand for AI in the workplace seems to be drying up fast.
Referencing data from a recent US Census Bureau survey, The Economist estimated that the percentage of Americans using AI to “produce goods and services” at large companies rang in at a modest 11 percent in October, the latest available survey date. It’s not just that the figure is a bit soggy for the supposedly world-changing technology, but that it’s suddenly moving in the wrong direction: the financial publication notes that the percentage is actually down from 12 percent in the prior survey, conducted two weeks previously.
Looking at the big picture doesn’t make it any prettier. Back in March, the number of businesses with 100-249 employees that reported not using AI within the last two weeks stood at 74.1 percent. The survey results show a steady uptick in “no” results over the past few months, culminating in a dreadful 81.4 percent as of the latest poll.
For big corporations with over 250 employees, meanwhile, the “no” reports have crept up to 68.6 percent, up from the year’s low of 62.4 percent recorded in February.
The data is nothing if not a major red flag for an industry which is expected to spend $5 trillion on AI infrastructure between now and 2030. To do so will require a massive increase in revenue from both business and personal AI use — the latter of which has been lagging.
Unfortunately for the tech industry, enterprise AI customers aren’t picking up the slack. Though various non-government surveys cited by The Economist varied wildly in their numbers, they all seemed to spell out the same results: AI remains more of an experimental plaything in the workplace than a serious driver of productivity.
One economist at Stanford who tracks the use of generative AI at work found a major drop in usage month to month: though 46 percent of respondents reported using the tech in June, that number had fallen to 37 percent by September. Another estimate, by Fintech firm Ramp, found that AI use at American corporations went through the roof earlier in 2025 to around 40 percent, but has since plateaued.
The results follow a disappointing summer for AI advancements, with models like OpenAI’s GPT-5 falling short of expected performance gains. Still, the cracks in enterprise AI adoption had begun to show as early as December of 2024, when an EY pulse survey of 500 senior executives found over half felt they were “failing in their role” of supporting AI in their companies.
Instead, executives pointed to a creep of “AI fatigue” among the rank and file — which a year of AI horrors probably hasn’t helped.
With a $600 billion gulf between AI revenue and AI spending, an immense amount is riding on whether the tech can start bringing home the bacon.
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