- The Ramp AI Index showed US corporate AI spending rose 1.65% month-over-month in October 2026 to a new high.
- The top 1% of companies by AI spending paid a median $10,200 per employee per month, up 9% from the prior month.
- The typical company spent just $16.32 per employee per month, up less than a dollar.
- Software development teams accounted for 72% of all tracked AI spending.
What Happened
US corporate AI spending rose 1.65% month-over-month in October 2026, reaching a new high according to the Ramp AI Index, The Decoder reported on November 11, 2026. The index tracks AI spending among more than 85,000 US business customers of financial services provider Ramp.
Why It Matters
The slowing growth rate follows a pattern flagged in prior Ramp data showing enterprise AI spending stalling as Anthropic nears its IPO, and comes after Ramp data separately showed Anthropic overtaking OpenAI in B2B adoption for the first time. Together, the figures suggest enterprise AI budgets are maturing rather than expanding at the pace seen earlier in 2026.
Technical Details
The top 1% of companies by AI spending paid a median of $10,200 per employee per month, up 9% from the prior month, while a typical company spent just $16.32 per employee per month, an increase of less than a dollar. That top 1% of companies still drives 80% of revenue for both OpenAI and Anthropic, and software development teams accounted for 72% of all tracked AI spending.
Who’s Affected
The concentration of spending among a small number of heavy users means OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s revenue remains highly dependent on a narrow customer base rather than broad enterprise adoption. Ramp notes its data reflects payment activity and isn’t necessarily representative, since free AI tools and usage outside Ramp’s payment rails aren’t fully captured.
What’s Next
Customer support is emerging as a new growth driver for enterprise AI spending, though Ramp’s data suggests it may carry lower margins than the software-development use cases that currently dominate tracked spending.
