{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "census-btos-us-firms-using-ai-17-20-percent",
  "slug": "census-btos-us-firms-using-ai-17-20-percent",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/census-btos-us-firms-using-ai-17-20-percent/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/census-btos-us-firms-using-ai-17-20-percent.json",
  "claim": "About 17–20% of U.S. businesses used AI in the past two weeks, Dec. 2025–May 2026 (Census Bureau)",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"What percent of US businesses use AI?\" / \"Census: how many companies use AI\"",
  "verdict": "verified",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 5,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "U.S. Census Bureau",
    "title": "Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)",
    "year": "2026"
  },
  "quote": "The BTOS data (December 2025 to May 2026) show that overall AI usage hovered between 17% and 20% — and that between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to be using it in the next six months.",
  "method": "Business Trends and Outlook Survey, which Census describes as a biweekly, nationally representative view of AI use across U.S. businesses; asks whether the business used AI 'in any business function' in the past two weeks.",
  "drift": [
    "Unit: share of firms (most are small), not share of employees; large firms report much higher use (37% at 250+ employees)",
    "Wording changed in Nov. 2025, so older readings are not comparable"
  ],
  "interest": "n/a (federal statistical agency).",
  "safe_rephrasing": "The Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey found 17–20% of U.S. businesses used AI in the prior two weeks between December 2025 and May 2026; check census.gov for the latest biweekly reading.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "U.S. Census Bureau — AI use by businesses (May 2026)",
      "url": "https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2026/05/ai-use-businesses.html",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "reference_fact",
  "as_of": "BTOS data Dec. 14, 2025–May 3, 2026; question wording revised Nov. 2025. Census publishes new BTOS readings every two weeks.",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}