AI spend per employee slumped at top firms in August — summer doldrums or a warning sign?
techcrunch ·
Ramp's spending data from 70,000 companies shows AI adoption slowed in August, with 56% of customers paying for AI products, up just 0.4% from July. This echoes a similar lull in the same period last year, but the slowdown raises concerns because massive AI infrastructure investment depends on sustained revenue growth. Ramp's figures likely overstate overall adoption, as a Census Bureau survey found only 22% of businesses use AI. The August data may reflect vacation season, but spending per employee at the top 1% of firms fell nearly 10% to $7,205, partly due to declining token costs after price cuts by OpenAI and Anthropic. These price cuts have not yet been offset by increased volume, and many customers are choosing older, cheaper models over newer frontier releases. Only 6.4% of AI-spending businesses used inference platforms in August, not enough to drive broader adoption dynamics. An economist notes that while this is a warning sign for model builders and hyperscalers, it is favorable for companies using AI.
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