The United States firm-adoption survey changes its question, and the number jumps

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The Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey replaced its AI question — previously about use "in producing goods or services" — with one asking about use "in any of its business functions", and expanded the supplement to cover fifteen business functions. The reported national AI use rate, which had climbed gradually to around 10% under the old wording, stood at 17.3% under the new one. This is the cleanest demonstration available that the headline adoption figures circulating in 2026 are not comparable with those from 2024, and it is a fact about the questionnaire rather than about firms.

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