{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"page": {"path": "/blog/how-many-people-use-ai/", "h1": "How Many People Use AI? The Live Count for {{page:periodLabel}}", "metaTitle": "How Many People Use AI in {{page:year}}? Live Data, Updated Monthly", "metaDescription": "About {{ai_app_users}} people use AI apps, {{ai_app_users:share}} of the world. ChatGPT reaches {{chatgpt_weekly}} a week. Every figure is sourced and rechecked monthly.", "ogImage": "/images/how-many-people-use-ai-og.jpg", "ogImageAlt": "2,500 dots representing every person on Earth, colored by how deeply they use AI, {{page:periodLabel}}", "datePublished": "2026-11-06", "dateModified": "2026-11-06", "lastChecked": "2026-11-06", "nextCheck": "2026-12-03", "periodLabel": "November 2026", "year": "2026", "categories": ["AI", "SEO"], "author": "Kyle Eggleston"},
"metrics": {
  "world_population": {"label": "People on Earth", "value": 8300678395, "display": "8.30 billion", "countType": "Population estimate", "asOf": "2026-07-01", "asOfLabel": "mid-2026", "sourceId": "un_wpp"},
  "internet_users": {"label": "People online", "value": 6000000000, "display": "6.0 billion", "countType": "Annual estimate", "asOf": "2025-11-17", "asOfLabel": "2025", "sourceId": "itu_ff2025", "note": "ITU counts this as 74% of people, using its own 2025 population estimate. 2.2 billion remain offline."},
  "offline_people": {"label": "People still offline", "value": 2200000000, "display": "2.2 billion", "countType": "Annual estimate", "asOf": "2025-11-17", "asOfLabel": "2025", "sourceId": "itu_ff2025"},
  "ai_app_users": {"label": "People who use AI apps", "value": 2000000000, "display": "2.0 billion", "countType": "Used in the past six months (estimate)", "asOf": "2026-09-16", "asOfLabel": "2026", "sourceId": "menlo_2026", "note": "Menlo Ventures estimate, extrapolated from a July 2026 survey of 5,067 US adults. Up from 1.8 billion in 2025."},
  "ai_app_users_2025": {"label": "People who used AI apps in 2025", "value": 1800000000, "display": "1.8 billion", "countType": "Used in the past six months (estimate)", "asOf": "2025-06-26", "asOfLabel": "2025", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "ai_overviews_monthly": {"label": "Monthly users of AI Overviews in Google Search", "value": 2500000000, "display": "2.5 billion", "floor": true, "countType": "Monthly users", "asOf": "2026-05-19", "asOfLabel": "May 19, 2026", "sourceId": "google_io_2026"},
  "ai_mode_monthly": {"label": "Monthly users of AI Mode in Google Search", "value": 1000000000, "display": "1 billion", "floor": true, "countType": "Monthly users", "asOf": "2026-05-19", "asOfLabel": "May 19, 2026", "sourceId": "google_io_2026"},
  "chatgpt_weekly": {"label": "Weekly ChatGPT users", "value": 1200000000, "display": "1.2 billion", "countType": "Weekly users", "asOf": "2026-09-29", "asOfLabel": "September 29, 2026", "sourceId": "openai_devday_2026"},
  "chatgpt_weekly_feb": {"label": "Weekly ChatGPT users, February 2026", "value": 900000000, "display": "900 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Weekly users", "asOf": "2026-02-27", "asOfLabel": "February 27, 2026", "sourceId": "openai_feb_2026"},
  "chatgpt_messages_weekly_2025": {"label": "ChatGPT messages sent per week", "value": 18000000000, "display": "18 billion", "countType": "Messages per week", "asOf": "2025-07-31", "asOfLabel": "July 2025", "sourceId": "openai_how_people_use"},
  "gemini_app_monthly": {"label": "Monthly Gemini app users", "value": 1000000000, "display": "1 billion", "floor": true, "countType": "Monthly users", "asOf": "2026-08-11", "asOfLabel": "August 11, 2026", "sourceId": "gemini_1b"},
  "gemini_dau_growth": {"label": "Growth in daily Gemini app users, year to July 2026", "value": 3, "display": "tripled", "countType": "Growth", "asOf": "2026-07-22", "asOfLabel": "July 22, 2026", "sourceId": "alphabet_q2_2026"},
  "meta_ai_monthly": {"label": "Monthly Meta AI users", "value": 1000000000, "display": "1 billion", "floor": true, "countType": "Monthly users", "asOf": "2025-10-29", "asOfLabel": "October 29, 2025", "sourceId": "meta_q3_2025", "note": "The latest figure Meta has disclosed."},
  "claude_monthly_est": {"label": "Monthly Claude users (outside estimate)", "value": 245000000, "display": "245 million", "countType": "Monthly users, third-party estimate", "asOf": "2026-05-31", "asOfLabel": "May 2026", "sourceId": "sensor_tower_may_2026", "note": "Sensor Tower estimate across the Claude app and website. Anthropic does not publish Claude user counts."},
  "openai_consumer_subs": {"label": "ChatGPT consumer subscribers", "value": 50000000, "display": "50 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Paid subscriptions", "asOf": "2026-02-27", "asOfLabel": "February 27, 2026", "sourceId": "openai_feb_2026"},
  "openai_business_users": {"label": "Paying ChatGPT business users", "value": 9000000, "display": "9 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Paid seats", "asOf": "2026-02-27", "asOfLabel": "February 27, 2026", "sourceId": "openai_feb_2026"},
  "m365_copilot_seats": {"label": "Paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats", "value": 30000000, "display": "30 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Paid seats", "asOf": "2026-07-29", "asOfLabel": "July 29, 2026", "sourceId": "msft_fy26q4"},
  "paid_documented": {"label": "Disclosed paid AI subscriptions and work seats", "derivedSum": ["openai_consumer_subs", "openai_business_users", "m365_copilot_seats"], "display": "89 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Paid subscriptions and seats", "asOf": "2026-07-29", "asOfLabel": "February and July 2026", "sourceId": "openai_feb_2026", "extraSourceIds": ["msft_fy26q4"], "note": "OpenAI plus Microsoft 365 Copilot. Google, Anthropic and most others do not publish totals, so the real number is higher."},
  "github_copilot_paid": {"label": "Paid GitHub Copilot subscribers", "value": 4700000, "display": "4.7 million", "countType": "Paid subscriptions", "asOf": "2026-01-28", "asOfLabel": "January 2026", "sourceId": "msft_fy26q2"},
  "github_copilot_users": {"label": "GitHub Copilot users", "value": 50000000, "display": "50 million", "countType": "Users", "asOf": "2026-07-29", "asOfLabel": "July 29, 2026", "sourceId": "msft_fy26q4"},
  "openai_agents_weekly": {"label": "Weekly users of OpenAI's agents (ChatGPT Work and Codex)", "value": 35000000, "display": "35 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Weekly users", "asOf": "2026-09-29", "asOfLabel": "September 29, 2026", "sourceId": "devday_35m"},
  "codex_weekly_june": {"label": "Weekly Codex users, June 2026", "value": 5000000, "display": "5 million", "floor": true, "countType": "Weekly users", "asOf": "2026-06-02", "asOfLabel": "June 2, 2026", "sourceId": "codex_june"},
  "agent_prs_growth": {"label": "Growth in agent-generated pull requests on GitHub, six months to October 2026", "value": 6, "display": "sixfold", "countType": "Growth", "asOf": "2026-10-28", "asOfLabel": "October 28, 2026", "sourceId": "msft_fy27q1"},
  "jetbrains_agents_weekly": {"label": "Professional developers using AI coding agents at work at least weekly", "value": 0.9, "display": "90%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-08-18", "asOfLabel": "May to July 2026", "sourceId": "jetbrains_2026"},
  "jetbrains_agents_daily": {"label": "Professional developers using AI coding agents daily", "value": 0.68, "display": "68%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-08-18", "asOfLabel": "May to July 2026", "sourceId": "jetbrains_2026"},
  "jetbrains_claude_code": {"label": "Professional developers using Claude Code at work, worldwide", "value": 0.39, "display": "39%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-08-18", "asOfLabel": "May to July 2026", "sourceId": "jetbrains_2026"},
  "jetbrains_claude_code_us": {"label": "Professional developers using Claude Code at work, United States", "value": 0.47, "display": "47%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-08-18", "asOfLabel": "May to July 2026", "sourceId": "jetbrains_2026"},
  "jetbrains_copilot": {"label": "Professional developers using GitHub Copilot at work, worldwide", "value": 0.21, "display": "21%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-08-18", "asOfLabel": "May to July 2026", "sourceId": "jetbrains_2026"},
  "ms_world_q2": {"label": "Working-age people worldwide who used generative AI, Q2 2026", "value": 0.188, "display": "18.8%", "countType": "Quarterly share, ages 15 to 64", "asOf": "2026-06-30", "asOfLabel": "Q2 2026", "sourceId": "msft_diffusion_q2"},
  "ms_world_q1": {"label": "Working-age people worldwide who used generative AI, Q1 2026", "value": 0.178, "display": "17.8%", "countType": "Quarterly share, ages 15 to 64", "asOf": "2026-03-31", "asOfLabel": "Q1 2026", "sourceId": "msft_diffusion_q2"},
  "ms_world_h2_2025": {"label": "Working-age people worldwide who used generative AI, second half of 2025", "value": 0.163, "display": "16.3%", "countType": "Half-year share, ages 15 to 64", "asOf": "2025-12-31", "asOfLabel": "Second half of 2025", "sourceId": "msft_diffusion_q2"},
  "ms_north_q2": {"label": "Working-age people using generative AI, Global North, Q2 2026", "value": 0.288, "display": "28.8%", "countType": "Quarterly share, ages 15 to 64", "asOf": "2026-06-30", "asOfLabel": "Q2 2026", "sourceId": "msft_diffusion_q2"},
  "ms_south_q2": {"label": "Working-age people using generative AI, Global South, Q2 2026", "value": 0.162, "display": "16.2%", "countType": "Quarterly share, ages 15 to 64", "asOf": "2026-06-30", "asOfLabel": "Q2 2026", "sourceId": "msft_diffusion_q2"},
  "us_daily_adults": {"label": "US adults who use AI every day", "value": 0.25, "display": "25%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-09-16", "asOfLabel": "July 2026 survey", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "us_daily_adults_2025": {"label": "US adults who used AI every day, 2025", "value": 0.19, "display": "19%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2025-06-26", "asOfLabel": "2025 survey", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "menlo_payers_share": {"label": "US AI users who say they pay for at least one AI product", "value": 0.55, "display": "55%", "countType": "Survey share", "asOf": "2026-09-16", "asOfLabel": "July 2026 survey", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "consumer_spend_2026": {"label": "Global consumer spending on AI, 2026", "value": 40000000000, "display": "$40 billion", "countType": "Annual spend (estimate)", "asOf": "2026-09-16", "asOfLabel": "2026", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "consumer_spend_2025": {"label": "Global consumer spending on AI, 2025", "value": 12000000000, "display": "$12 billion", "countType": "Annual spend (estimate)", "asOf": "2025-06-26", "asOfLabel": "2025", "sourceId": "menlo_2026"},
  "pnc_households_paying": {"label": "PNC households paying for a generative AI subscription", "value": 0.022, "display": "2.2%", "countType": "Card data share", "asOf": "2026-05-31", "asOfLabel": "May 2026", "sourceId": "pnc_2026"},
  "pnc_avg_spend": {"label": "Average monthly AI spend per paying PNC household", "value": 31, "display": "$31", "countType": "Card data average", "asOf": "2026-05-31", "asOfLabel": "May 2026", "sourceId": "pnc_2026"}
},
"derived": {
  "never_apps": {"label": "People who have not used an AI app", "populationMinus": "ai_app_users"},
  "never_search": {"label": "People outside every count, including AI answers in Google Search", "populationMinus": "ai_overviews_monthly"}
},
"sources": {
  "un_wpp": {"publisher": "United Nations", "title": "World Population Prospects 2024", "url": "https://population.un.org/wpp/", "published": "2024-07-11"},
  "itu_ff2025": {"publisher": "International Telecommunication Union", "title": "Facts and Figures 2025: Global number of Internet users increases", "url": "https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/PR-2025-11-17-facts-and-figures.aspx", "published": "2025-11-17"},
  "menlo_2026": {"publisher": "Menlo Ventures", "title": "2026: The State of Consumer AI", "url": "https://menlovc.com/perspective/2026-the-state-of-consumer-ai/", "published": "2026-09-16"},
  "google_io_2026": {"publisher": "Digit, quoting Sundar Pichai at Google I/O 2026", "title": "Google IO 2026: Sundar Pichai gave numbers to explain rapid AI adoption", "url": "https://www.digit.in/features/general/google-io-2026-sundar-pichai-gave-numbers-to-explain-rapid-ai-adoption.html", "published": "2026-05-19"},
  "openai_devday_2026": {"publisher": "OpenAI", "title": "DevDay 2026 Recap", "url": "https://openai.com/index/devday-2026-recap/", "published": "2026-09-29"},
  "openai_feb_2026": {"publisher": "OpenAI", "title": "Scaling AI for everyone", "url": "https://openai.com/index/scaling-ai-for-everyone/", "published": "2026-02-27"},
  "openai_how_people_use": {"publisher": "OpenAI", "title": "How people are using ChatGPT", "url": "https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/", "published": "2025-09-15"},
  "devday_35m": {"publisher": "AI Tools Review", "title": "OpenAI DevDay 2026: Everything Announced", "url": "https://aitoolsreview.co.uk/insights/openai-devday-2026-recap", "published": "2026-10-01"},
  "codex_june": {"publisher": "Gradually AI, citing OpenAI", "title": "OpenAI Codex Statistics 2026", "url": "https://www.gradually.ai/en/codex-statistics/", "published": "2026-10-01"},
  "gemini_1b": {"publisher": "SiliconANGLE", "title": "Google's Gemini AI app passes 1 billion monthly active users", "url": "https://siliconangle.com/2026/08/11/googles-gemini-ai-app-passes-1-billion-monthly-active-users/", "published": "2026-08-11"},
  "alphabet_q2_2026": {"publisher": "Implicator", "title": "Google says Gemini reached 950 million monthly users", "url": "https://www.implicator.ai/google-says-gemini-reached-950-million-monthly-users-as-cash-flow-turned-negative/", "published": "2026-07-22"},
  "meta_q3_2025": {"publisher": "PYMNTS", "title": "Meta Flags Bigger 2026 AI Buildout as Superintelligence Drive Accelerates", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/meta/2025/meta-flags-bigger-2026-ai-buildout-as-superintelligence-drive-accelerates", "published": "2025-10-29"},
  "sensor_tower_may_2026": {"publisher": "Implicator, citing Sensor Tower", "title": "ChatGPT is losing its one-app category advantage", "url": "https://www.implicator.ai/chatgpt-is-losing-its-one-app-category-advantage/", "published": "2026-06-15"},
  "msft_fy26q2": {"publisher": "Windows Central", "title": "Satya Nadella says Microsoft's Copilot AI is seeing massive use", "url": "https://www.windowscentral.com/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-copilot/satya-nadella-says-microsofts-copilot-ai-is-seeing-massive-use", "published": "2026-01-29"},
  "msft_fy26q4": {"publisher": "Microsoft", "title": "FY26 Q4 earnings conference call", "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2026/earnings-fy-2026-q4", "published": "2026-07-29"},
  "msft_fy27q1": {"publisher": "Microsoft", "title": "FY27 Q1 earnings conference call", "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2027/earnings-fy-2027-q1", "published": "2026-10-28"},
  "jetbrains_2026": {"publisher": "JetBrains Research", "title": "AI Coding Agents: Adoption Trends (Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026)", "url": "https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2026/08/ai-coding-agent-adoption-2026/", "published": "2026-08-18"},
  "msft_diffusion_q2": {"publisher": "Microsoft", "title": "The continued state of global AI diffusion in 2026", "url": "https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2026/09/21/the-continued-state-of-global-ai-diffusion-in-2026/", "published": "2026-09-21"},
  "msft_diffusion_table": {"publisher": "FourWeekMBA, from Microsoft's Global AI Diffusion Q2 2026 report", "title": "Microsoft Puts UAE AI Use at 73.3%, Global Rate at 18.8%", "url": "https://fourweekmba.com/ai-microsoft-puts-uae-ai-use-at-73-3-global-rate-at-18-8/", "published": "2026-10-11"},
  "pnc_2026": {"publisher": "TechDogs, reporting PNC's June 2026 Consumer Report", "title": "Only 2.2% Of PNC Households Pay For GenAI, As Monthly Spend Climbs To $31", "url": "https://www.techdogs.com/tech-news/td-newsdesk/only-22-of-pnc-households-pay-for-genai-as-monthly-spend-climbs-to-31", "published": "2026-07-23"},
  "viral_feb_2026": {"publisher": "Insanely Cool Tools newsletter", "title": "Reposting the viral 2,500-dot AI adoption chart", "url": "https://insanelycooltools.substack.com/p/insanely-cool-tools-substack-edition-edc", "published": "2026-02-26"}
},
"dotChart": {"dots": 2500, "columns": 50, "populationMetric": "world_population", "views": [{"id": "apps", "label": "AI apps people chose", "usersMetric": "ai_app_users"}, {"id": "search", "label": "Include AI answers in Google Search", "usersMetric": "ai_overviews_monthly"}], "tiers": [{"id": "never", "label": "No AI use counted", "colorToken": "--ink-300", "you": "You are in the majority. Most people on Earth have not used AI on purpose yet."}, {"id": "uses", "label": "Uses AI without paying", "colorToken": "--primary", "you": "You use AI for free, like most people who use it at all."}, {"id": "pays", "label": "Pays for AI, or has a paid AI seat at work", "colorToken": "--ink-700", "cumulativeMetric": "paid_documented", "you": "You are in the paying minority."}, {"id": "agents", "label": "Hands work to AI agents every week", "colorToken": "--ink", "cumulativeMetric": "openai_agents_weekly", "you": "You are in the deepest group anyone can document."}], "caption": "Dot chart by Kyle Eggleston, built from the figures on this page. Population: UN World Population Prospects 2024, mid-2026 estimate. Numbers checked {{page:lastCheckedLabel}}.", "nestingNote": "Each deeper group is drawn inside the one before it, so an agent user is also counted as a payer and an AI user. Companies do not publish how their audiences overlap, so read the smallest groups as order of magnitude, not exact membership. The paying group counts disclosed subscriptions and seats, and the agent group counts OpenAI's agents alone, so both are floors."},
"quiz": {"heading": "Where do you sit?", "intro": "Answer a few quick questions and your group lights up on the chart.", "empty": "Answer the questions to find your dots.", "questions": [{"id": "app", "text": "In the last month, did you use an AI app yourself? ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Meta AI and Copilot all count."}, {"id": "search", "text": "This month, did you read an AI-written answer at the top of a Google search?"}, {"id": "pays", "text": "Do you or your employer pay for an AI subscription or an AI seat?"}, {"id": "agents", "text": "In a typical week, do you hand a task to an AI agent that works on its own, such as Codex, Claude Code, ChatGPT Work or Copilot's agent mode?"}], "resultTemplate": "{{tier:you}} You are among {{tier:people}} people, {{tier:share}} of humanity{{tier:oneInClause}}.", "resultRules": "tier:people and tier:share use the cumulative count for the selected group in the current view: never = population minus the view's users metric, uses = the view's users metric (ai_app_users or ai_overviews_monthly), pays = paid_documented, agents = openai_agents_weekly. tier:oneInClause is ', about 1 in N' only when N is 3 or more, otherwise empty."},
"viralChart": {"sourceId": "viral_feb_2026", "rows": [{"group": "Never used AI", "viral": "84% (6.8 billion)", "now": "{{never_apps:share}} have not used an AI app ({{never_apps}}). {{never_search:share}} once AI answers in Google Search count.", "sourceIds": ["menlo_2026", "google_io_2026"]}, {"group": "Uses free AI", "viral": "16% (1.3 billion)", "now": "{{ai_app_users:share}} use AI apps ({{ai_app_users}})", "sourceIds": ["menlo_2026"]}, {"group": "Pays for AI", "viral": "0.3% (15 to 25 million)", "now": "At least {{paid_documented:share}} ({{paid_documented}} disclosed subscriptions and seats)", "sourceIds": ["openai_feb_2026", "msft_fy26q4"]}, {"group": "Uses AI coding tools", "viral": "0.04% (2 to 5 million)", "now": "At least {{github_copilot_users:share}} ({{github_copilot_users}} GitHub Copilot users alone)", "sourceIds": ["msft_fy26q4"]}, {"group": "Uses AI agents every week", "viral": "Not shown", "now": "At least {{openai_agents_weekly:share}} ({{openai_agents_weekly}} on OpenAI's agents alone)", "sourceIds": ["devday_35m"]}]},
"productCharts": {
  "monthly": {"title": "Monthly users by AI product", "rows": ["ai_overviews_monthly", "gemini_app_monthly", "ai_mode_monthly", "meta_ai_monthly", "claude_monthly_est"], "shortLabels": {"ai_overviews_monthly": "AI Overviews (Google Search)", "gemini_app_monthly": "Gemini app", "ai_mode_monthly": "AI Mode (Google Search)", "meta_ai_monthly": "Meta AI", "claude_monthly_est": "Claude (outside estimate)"}},
  "weekly": {"title": "Weekly users by AI product", "rows": ["chatgpt_weekly", "openai_agents_weekly", "codex_weekly_june"], "shortLabels": {"chatgpt_weekly": "ChatGPT", "openai_agents_weekly": "ChatGPT Work and Codex", "codex_weekly_june": "Codex alone (June)"}}
},
"countries": {"title": "Share of working-age people using generative AI, Q2 2026", "sourceIds": ["msft_diffusion_q2", "msft_diffusion_table"], "rows": [{"rank": 1, "country": "United Arab Emirates", "value": 73.3}, {"rank": 2, "country": "Singapore", "value": 64.3}, {"rank": 3, "country": "Ireland", "value": 49.9}, {"rank": 4, "country": "France", "value": 49.6}, {"rank": 5, "country": "Norway", "value": 49.4}, {"rank": 6, "country": "Spain", "value": 45.1}, {"rank": 7, "country": "New Zealand", "value": 44.1}, {"rank": 8, "country": "United Kingdom", "value": 43.7}, {"rank": 9, "country": "Netherlands", "value": 43.5}, {"rank": 10, "country": "Qatar", "value": 43.5}, {"rank": 21, "country": "United States", "value": 33.0}, {"rank": null, "country": "China", "value": 17.5}], "worldValue": 18.8},
"tables": {
  "atAGlance": {"columns": ["Measure", "Number", "As of", "Source"], "rows": ["world_population", "internet_users", "ai_app_users", "ai_overviews_monthly", "chatgpt_weekly", "paid_documented", "github_copilot_users", "openai_agents_weekly", "ms_world_q2", "us_daily_adults"]},
  "products": {"columns": ["Product", "Users", "Count type", "As of", "Source"], "rows": ["chatgpt_weekly", "ai_overviews_monthly", "gemini_app_monthly", "ai_mode_monthly", "meta_ai_monthly", "claude_monthly_est", "openai_agents_weekly", "github_copilot_users"]},
  "paying": {"columns": ["Measure", "Number", "As of", "Source"], "rows": ["openai_consumer_subs", "openai_business_users", "m365_copilot_seats", "github_copilot_paid", "pnc_households_paying", "menlo_payers_share", "consumer_spend_2026"]},
  "agents": {"columns": ["Measure", "Number", "As of", "Source"], "rows": ["github_copilot_users", "jetbrains_agents_weekly", "jetbrains_agents_daily", "jetbrains_claude_code", "jetbrains_claude_code_us", "jetbrains_copilot", "codex_weekly_june", "openai_agents_weekly", "agent_prs_growth"]}
},
"body": [
  {"type": "p", "lead": true, "text": "About {{ai_app_users}} people used an AI app in 2026, roughly {{ai_app_users:share}} of the {{world_population}} people on Earth, by Menlo Ventures' estimate. Count the AI answers Google shows inside Search and at least {{ai_overviews_monthly}} people a month now read AI, about {{ai_overviews_monthly:share}} of humanity. ChatGPT alone reaches {{chatgpt_weekly}} people every week."},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Those headline numbers hide how thin the deep end still is. Companies have disclosed at least {{paid_documented}} paid AI subscriptions and work seats, about {{paid_documented:share}} of the world, and at least {{openai_agents_weekly}} people hand work to OpenAI's AI agents each week, about {{openai_agents_weekly:oneIn}} people on Earth."},
  {"type": "p", "text": "I rebuild this count every month from company disclosures and named research, and every number links to where it came from. The updated date at the top only changes when a number does."},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "at-a-glance", "text": "The count at a glance"},
  {"type": "takeaway", "text": "About {{ai_app_users:oneIn}} people on Earth uses AI apps. About {{openai_agents_weekly:oneIn}} hands work to AI agents every week."},
  {"type": "table", "tableId": "atAGlance"},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "dot-chart", "text": "Every person on Earth as 2,500 dots"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Each dot stands for about {{dots:perDot}} people. Dots are colored by the deepest kind of AI use a named source can document. Flip the switch to count the AI answers people see inside Google Search, then answer a few quick questions to find your own dots."},
  {"type": "dotChart"},
  {"type": "dotTierTable"},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "viral-chart", "text": "What the viral \"84% never used AI\" chart got right and wrong"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "In February 2026 a chart of 2,500 dots spread across LinkedIn, X and Reddit. It showed 84% of people had never used AI, 16% used free chatbots, 0.3% paid for AI and 0.04% used coding tools like Cursor or Claude Code. Its big picture still holds: most of the world has not touched AI on purpose. The bottom of the chart has aged badly. Every paying and building group is now at least 3 times larger than it showed, and the coding group is at least 10 times larger."},
  {"type": "takeaway", "text": "The group the viral chart drew as one dot now fills at least 15 dots: GitHub Copilot alone has {{github_copilot_users}} users."},
  {"type": "viralTable"},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "by-product", "text": "How many people use ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI and Claude?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Each company counts its own way. OpenAI reports weekly users. Google and Meta report monthly users, which always produce bigger numbers for the same audience, and Anthropic reports none at all. The charts keep weekly and monthly counts apart, and none of these audiences can be added together because the same person often uses several."},
  {"type": "barChart", "chartId": "monthly"},
  {"type": "barChart", "chartId": "weekly"},
  {"type": "table", "tableId": "products"},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "chatgpt-daily", "text": "How many people use ChatGPT daily?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "OpenAI does not publish daily ChatGPT users. It reports weekly users, which reached {{chatgpt_weekly}} on {{chatgpt_weekly:date}}, up from {{chatgpt_weekly_feb}} on {{chatgpt_weekly_feb:date}}. The last usage figure OpenAI published was {{chatgpt_messages_weekly_2025}} messages a week in July 2025."},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "claude-users", "text": "How many people use Claude?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Anthropic does not publish Claude user counts. Sensor Tower estimated {{claude_monthly_est}} monthly users across the Claude app and website in May 2026. Treat that as an outside estimate, not a company figure."},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "daily", "text": "How many people use AI every day?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "No company or research group publishes a global daily count, but every signal points up. In the United States, {{us_daily_adults}} of adults used AI every day in July 2026, up from {{us_daily_adults_2025}} a year earlier, in Menlo Ventures' survey of 5,067 adults. Google says daily users of the Gemini app {{gemini_dau_growth}} in the year to July 2026. Among professional developers, {{jetbrains_agents_daily}} use an AI coding agent daily."},
  {"type": "sources", "sourceIds": ["menlo_2026", "alphabet_q2_2026", "jetbrains_2026"]},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "paying", "text": "How many people pay for AI?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Companies have disclosed at least {{paid_documented}} paid AI subscriptions and work seats, about {{paid_documented:share}} of the world: more than {{openai_consumer_subs}} ChatGPT consumer subscribers and {{openai_business_users}} paying ChatGPT business users as of {{openai_consumer_subs:date}}, plus more than {{m365_copilot_seats}} paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats as of {{m365_copilot_seats:date}}. Google, Anthropic and most others do not publish subscriber totals, so the real number is higher."},
  {"type": "takeaway", "text": "Consumer spending on AI more than tripled in a year, from {{consumer_spend_2025}} to {{consumer_spend_2026}}."},
  {"type": "table", "tableId": "paying"},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "paying-disagree", "text": "Why estimates of paying users disagree"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Bank data and surveys give very different answers. PNC's card data found {{pnc_households_paying}} of its households paying for a generative AI subscription in May 2026, spending about {{pnc_avg_spend}} a month on average. Menlo Ventures' July survey found {{menlo_payers_share}} of US AI users saying they pay for at least one AI product. Card data can miss subscriptions billed through app stores, bundles and employers, and surveys rely on what people remember. Both agree on direction: more people pay each year, and payers spend more."},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "agents", "text": "How many people use AI to write code and run agents?"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "This is the fastest-moving group on the page. GitHub Copilot reached {{github_copilot_users}} users by {{github_copilot_users:date}}. In JetBrains' survey of more than 15,000 professional developers, {{jetbrains_agents_weekly}} used AI coding agents at work at least weekly between May and July 2026, and Claude Code became the most used tool at work at {{jetbrains_claude_code}} worldwide ({{jetbrains_claude_code_us}} in the US), ahead of GitHub Copilot at {{jetbrains_copilot}}."},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Agents now reach well beyond developers. OpenAI counted more than {{codex_weekly_june}} weekly Codex users in June 2026, and by {{openai_agents_weekly:date}} more than {{openai_agents_weekly}} people a week were using ChatGPT Work and Codex together. On GitHub, pull requests opened by agents grew {{agent_prs_growth}} in six months, Microsoft said in October 2026. Anthropic does not publish a Claude Code user count, so every agent figure here is a floor."},
  {"type": "takeaway", "text": "At least {{openai_agents_weekly}} people hand work to AI agents every week, about {{openai_agents_weekly:share}} of humanity."},
  {"type": "table", "tableId": "agents"},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "by-country", "text": "AI adoption rate by country"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Microsoft measures the share of people aged 15 to 64 who used a generative AI product during each quarter, using anonymized Microsoft telemetry adjusted for device share, internet access and population. Worldwide that share rose from {{ms_world_h2_2025}} in the second half of 2025 to {{ms_world_q1}} in the first quarter of 2026 and {{ms_world_q2}} in the second. Use runs far higher in richer countries: {{ms_north_q2}} in the Global North against {{ms_south_q2}} in the Global South."},
  {"type": "takeaway", "text": "The United States ranks 21st at 33.0%, behind Ireland, France and the United Kingdom."},
  {"type": "countryChart"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Microsoft says its next report will widen the measure to include newer AI tools and expects higher numbers in almost every country, with the largest increases in China."},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "for-business", "text": "What this means if your customers find you on Google"},
  {"type": "p", "text": "At least {{ai_overviews_monthly}} people a month now read an AI answer before they see a single link, and {{chatgpt_weekly}} people a week ask ChatGPT. When someone asks which roofer, dentist or law firm to call, the answer more and more often arrives as a short paragraph that names two or three businesses."},
  {"type": "p", "text": "Getting named takes the same work that wins rankings, plus a few things classic SEO never needed: pages an AI system can quote cleanly, business details that match everywhere they appear, and mentions on third-party sites the models already trust. I tested which pages Google's AI Overviews actually cite in [a study of 400 search results](/blog/how-to-rank-in-ai-overviews/), and wrote up [how ChatGPT chooses its sources](/blog/how-to-rank-in-chatgpt/)."},
  {"type": "p", "text": "If you want your business to be one of the names AI recommends, see my [AI search optimization services](/ai-seo-services/) or book a free consultation below."},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "methodology", "text": "How this count is built and kept current"},
  {"type": "list", "items": ["Only figures a company disclosed or a named research group published, each with its date and a link.", "Weekly and monthly users are never added together or compared as equals.", "Product audiences overlap, so they are never summed. One person can use ChatGPT, Gemini and Meta AI in the same week.", "Where a company stays quiet, the page says so instead of guessing. Anthropic does not publish Claude user counts, and Google does not publish paid Gemini subscribers.", "Population is the UN's mid-2026 estimate of {{world_population}}. It includes every child and the {{offline_people}} people who are still offline (ITU, 2025), which is why the gray area is so large.", "Every month I recheck each source, update any figure that changed and log it below. The updated date at the top only moves when a number moves."]},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "changelog", "text": "Change log"},
  {"type": "changelog"},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "all-sources", "text": "All sources"},
  {"type": "allSources"},
  {"type": "h3", "id": "cite", "text": "Cite or reuse this data"},
  {"type": "cite"},
  {"type": "h2", "id": "faq", "text": "Questions people ask about AI usage"},
  {"type": "faq"}
],
"cite": {"text": "Kyle Eggleston, \"How Many People Use AI? The Live Count,\" kyleeggleston.com, updated {{page:dateModifiedLabel}}. https://www.kyleeggleston.com/blog/how-many-people-use-ai/", "license": "Free to reuse with credit and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).", "downloads": [{"label": "Download the data (JSON)", "href": "/data/how-many-people-use-ai.json"}, {"label": "Download the data (CSV)", "href": "/data/how-many-people-use-ai.csv"}]},
"faq": [
  {"q": "How many people use AI in the world?", "a": "About {{ai_app_users}} people used AI apps in 2026, roughly {{ai_app_users:share}} of the world's {{world_population}} people, according to Menlo Ventures' estimate. At least {{ai_overviews_monthly}} people a month read AI Overviews in Google Search."},
  {"q": "What percentage of people use AI?", "a": "Between about 19% and 30%, depending on what counts. Microsoft measured {{ms_world_q2}} of working-age people using generative AI in Q2 2026. Menlo Ventures estimates {{ai_app_users:share}} of all people use AI apps. Counting AI answers in Google Search raises the floor to about {{ai_overviews_monthly:share}}."},
  {"q": "How many people use ChatGPT?", "a": "{{chatgpt_weekly}} people a week, OpenAI said on {{chatgpt_weekly:date}}. OpenAI does not publish daily or monthly ChatGPT users."},
  {"q": "How many people use AI every day?", "a": "No one publishes a global daily count. In the United States, {{us_daily_adults}} of adults used AI every day in July 2026, up from {{us_daily_adults_2025}} a year earlier, according to Menlo Ventures."},
  {"q": "How many people pay for AI?", "a": "Companies have disclosed at least {{paid_documented}} paid AI subscriptions and work seats: more than {{openai_consumer_subs}} ChatGPT consumer subscribers, more than {{openai_business_users}} paying ChatGPT business users and more than {{m365_copilot_seats}} Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. Google and Anthropic do not publish their totals."},
  {"q": "Which country uses AI the most?", "a": "The United Arab Emirates, where 73.3% of working-age people used generative AI in Q2 2026, followed by Singapore at 64.3%. The United States ranked 21st at 33.0%, according to Microsoft."},
  {"q": "Is the viral \"84% of people have never used AI\" chart accurate?", "a": "It was close in early 2026 and is now out of date. About {{never_apps:share}} of people have not used an AI app, and about {{never_search:share}} are outside every count once AI answers in Google Search are included. Its bottom groups were far too small: GitHub Copilot alone has {{github_copilot_users}} users, against the 2 to 5 million coding-tool users the chart showed."}
],
"changelog": [
  {"date": "2026-11-06", "text": "Page published. Every figure checked against its source on November 6, 2026."}
]
}