AI spending per employee has declined 10% among US companies that invest most heavily in artificial intelligence, according to data from payments platform Ramp, which tracks expenses across 70,000 companies.
The shift appears driven by cost optimization. Companies are increasingly choosing older, cheaper AI models over expensive frontier versions that offer cutting-edge capabilities. Meanwhile, only 56% of Ramp's customers paid for AI products in August—a modest 0.4% increase from the previous month, suggesting growth in AI adoption has slowed considerably.