Ramp Spend Data: Anthropic Edges OpenAI in Business Adoption — First Crossover
Ramp’s May AI Index: Anthropic hit 34.4% business adoption in April (+3.8 pp) vs OpenAI 32.3% (−2.9 pp); overall AI adoption 50.6% among U.S. Ramp businesses. Transaction-based paid-spend share — not surveys — and the first measured OpenAI loss of the business-adoption lead in this series.
Surveys ask what people intend to buy. Ramp measures what businesses already pay for. The first Anthropic > OpenAI crossover on that series is a procurement signal — with the sample caveat that it is Ramp’s merchant universe, not the whole U.S. economy.
Ramp (May 13 AI Index): in April 2026, Anthropic reached 34.4% business adoption (+3.8 pp MoM), edging OpenAI at 32.3% (−2.9 pp). Overall AI adoption among U.S. businesses on Ramp: 50.6% (+0.2 pp). Anthropic quadrupled business adoption over the past year (Ramp). Data: anonymized card and bill-pay transactions across tens of thousands of U.S. businesses.
Method#
Ramp tracks paid subscriptions to AI models, platforms, and tools via corporate card and bill pay (roughly 50k–70k U.S. businesses in coverage descriptions). Adoption = share of businesses with paid AI spend — transaction-based, not survey.
April snapshot#
| Metric | April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Anthropic | 34.4% (+3.8 pp) |
| OpenAI | 32.3% (−2.9 pp) |
| Overall AI | 50.6% (+0.2 pp) |
Claims vs checks#
Figures are Ramp Economics Lab / AI Index primary, relayed by Axios, Business Insider, VentureBeat. Independent in the sense of not being a lab blog — but not a census: Ramp customers skew fintech/SaaS-friendly SMBs and mid-market. Coding-heavy Anthropic spend can move this needle faster than ChatGPT consumer seats that never hit a corporate card.
Limits#
- Ramp merchant sample ≠ all U.S. businesses.
- Paid-spend share ≠ seat count, token volume, or NPS.
- MoM swings can reflect billing cycles and promotions.
Sources#
- Axios: “Anthropic overtakes OpenAI in workplace AI adoption” (May 13, 2026).
- Business Insider (May 13, 2026) on Ramp AI Index.
- Ramp AI Index (May 2026 update).
- VentureBeat and related outlets confirming April numbers.