Ramp's AI Index for September 2026 shows falling per-employee AI spending among the highest-spending US companies, while usage shifts away from expensive frontier models toward cheaper alternatives.
Financial services company Ramp tracks monthly US business spending on AI services through its AI Index. The September edition shows AI adoption still growing, but at a slower pace. The companies that spend the most on AI spent less in August than they did the month before.
In August, 43.8 percent of US companies paid for Anthropic services, up 0.34 percentage points. OpenAI gained just 0.09 percentage points to reach 39.8 percent. Technical sectors like IT and finance continue to lead adoption.
The biggest spenders are cutting back
Spending by the top 1 percent of companies matters most for model providers because those firms drive the bulk of enterprise revenue. Median per-employee spending in that group fell 9.7 percent in August to $7,205. Because the top 1 percent is a small pool of firms, this estimate tends to be more volatile than other segments and may be revised later, according to the report.
