The United States firm-adoption survey changes its question, and the number jumps
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.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Measured adoption of AI by firms · phenomenon · United States · not located
Evidence
Verified — Every field is supported by a cited authoritative source.
Business Trends and Outlook Survey — AI use series and the November 2025 question-wording change
Under the original wording — AI use "in producing goods or services" — the fortnightly BTOS AI use rate rose from 3.7% in September 2023 to 5.4% in February 2024 and reached roughly 10% by late 2025. On 17 November 2025 the question was rewritten to ask about use "in any of its business functions", with the supplement expanded to fifteen functions, and the reported national rate stood at 17.3%; through December 2025 to May 2026 the rate ran between about 17% and 20%, with about 37% among firms of at least 250 employees and 32% among firms of 100–249 employees in the period ending 3 May 2026. V55 verification basis: no Census page was fetched. The early series, the 17 November 2025 rewording, the 17.3% figure, the 17–20% band and the firm-size breakdown were carried in search results attributing them to Census BTOS releases and documentation and to the St. Louis Fed commentary on the wording change.
United States Census Bureau; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · 2023-09 to 2026-05 · Verified
US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/btos.html ; "AI Question Wording Updates", https://www.census.gov/hfp/btos/downloads/ ; Census Bureau story, "Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users", May 2026; St. Louis Fed, "Measuring AI Adoption among Firms: How You Ask Matters", June 2026
Recorded on Measured adoption of AI by firms
- A whole-labour-market analysis finds no economy-wide disruption yet
- The United States firm-adoption survey changes its question, and the number jumps
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