Corporate spending on AI went nearly flat over late summer even as usage kept rising, according to a new report from the corporate card company Ramp, TechCrunch reported on Nov. 6. Token spend grew only 1.5% across August and September, after a 42% jump in July.
Related: OpenAI Cuts Funding Round Target to $20 Billion as Tech Stocks Slide.
What is holding spending back
TechCrunch said price competition and savvier customers may be capping revenue for OpenAI and Anthropic. Ramp lead economist Ara Kharazian said the top 1% of firms stuttered slightly in August and September, coming in just below the $10,000 per employee they reached at their summer peaks. That slowdown alone was enough to stall overall revenue growth, he said.
Median firms spend $12 to $15 per employee per month and the top 10% spend $600 to $1,000, according to the data. “Almost the entire spend on AI is from venture-backed, high-growth tech companies,” Kharazian told TechCrunch.
What comes next
October showed a re-acceleration, with token spend up 8.9% from Sept. 23 to Oct. 23, but Kharazian said the headwinds remain strong, TechCrunch reported. The figures come as Anthropic prepares for an initial public offering. Ramp’s data reflects its own customers, not the whole market.
More coverage is in Business & Finance.
Sources
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