AI Adoption Rises, But Jobs Haven’t Dropped Yet, Census Data Show

Census data tracking AI use in U.S. firms shows a jump from about 3.7% using AI in 2023 to roughly 18% using AI in any function by early 2026, yet the measured effect on total employment remains minimal: in late 2023–early 2024, 2.8% of firms reported employment increases and 2.6% decreases (94.6% unchanged); in late 2025–early 2026, 2.3% reported increases and 2.0% decreases (95.7% unchanged). Adoption is still concentrated in the minority of firms, and information-sector activity shows more variation. Among adopters, 44% say AI augments existing work, 10% say it performs tasks humans used to do, and 11% introduce new tasks; generative AI use centers on writing/emails (85%), information search (about 50%), summarizing (45%), and coding (13%). Most firms (64%) made no changes to operations to deploy AI; 15% trained staff, another 15% redesigned workflows, and ~1% hired AI-skilled workers. The share of firms where AI replaced a large or moderate share of tasks is still small, suggesting AI-driven employment disruption is not yet evident, consistent with the authors’ prior views.