GoKawiilRamp data shows AI spending growth stalling at top companies in August
Payments firm Ramp's survey of 70,000 businesses found only 56% paid for AI tools in August, up just 0.4% from July, marking a sharp deceleration in adoption. Spending per employee among the top 1% of firms fell nearly 10% to $7,205, which Ramp economist Ara Kharazian attributes partly to seasonal vacation effects and partly to falling token prices, now averaging $0.68 per million tokens versus a March peak of $1.15.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
AI labs and hyperscalers have poured enormous capital into infrastructure on the bet that usage growth will keep outpacing falling prices, and any slowdown in adoption threatens that math. Ramp's tech-savvy customer base may not represent the broader economy—a separate Census Bureau survey puts AI usage at just 22% of businesses—but as one of the few real spending datasets available, it could be an early signal of trouble ahead.
- Ramp's AI adoption index rose just 0.4% in August, echoing a similar slowdown seen in the same months last year.
- Spending per employee among top-tier firms dropped nearly 10%, partly due to falling token prices from OpenAI and Anthropic.
- The slowdown raises concerns about whether usage growth can offset price cuts and justify massive AI infrastructure investment.
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Published there as: “AI spend per employee slumped at top firms in August — summer doldrums or a warning sign?”
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