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<\/p>\nData shows first recorded dip since 2022<\/p>\n
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Companies have been rolling out AI at speed across boardrooms and back offices, but fresh survey data hints that the enthusiasm is beginning to taper off.<\/p>\n
Figures from the US Census Bureau show large companies are pulling back on their use of artificial intelligence after a rapid build-up in spending.<\/p>\n
Among firms with more than 250 staff, adoption rates peaked at just under 14% earlier this summer before slipping back to about 12%. The fall is modest but telling, given that these enterprises have thrown billions<\/a> into datacentres and infrastructure to push AI projects forward.<\/p>\n Torsten Sl\u00f8k, chief economist at Apollo Academy, remarked in a blog post<\/a> that \u201cthe bottom line is that the biweekly Census data is starting to show a slowdown in AI adoption for large companies.\u201d<\/p>\n The Census Bureau, which surveys 1.2 million firms biweekly, has been the US government\u2019s main yardstick for tracking AI use since 2022.<\/p>\n When the survey began, fewer than 4% of firms said they used AI in production. That figure had risen above 5% by mid-2024, reflecting a steady climb before this year\u2019s dip among bigger players.<\/p>\n Early overreach and workforce impact<\/p>\n This development suggests many companies may have rushed into AI rollouts in hopes of cutting costs, only to find the payoff slow to come through.<\/p>\n A Stanford study<\/a> linked AI adoption to a 13% drop in jobs for younger US workers, while in the UK, a good number of young adults are afraid they will lose their jobs to AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n In many cases, firms cut back on staff but failed to bring down expenses, leaving them frustrated with the technology\u2019s limited impact on profit.<\/p>\n