Microsoft estimates that 18.8% of people ages 15–64 across 147 economies used a generative AI product in Q2 2026, up 1.0 percentage point from Q1. In the United States, the reported rate was 33.0%, ranking 21st in Microsoft’s top-30 table.
What Microsoft’s AI diffusion estimate measures
Microsoft uses “diffusion” to describe the share of people in that age group who used a generative AI product during the quarter. The figure is an estimate based on aggregated, anonymized telemetry, adjusted for operating-system and device-market share, internet penetration and population. It measures whether people used a product during the period, not how often they used it or its capabilities or economic impact.
Microsoft’s May 7, 2026 update put the Q1 global rate at 17.8%; the Q2 estimate was 1.0 percentage point higher.
The United States and other reported rates
At 33.0%, the United States was above Microsoft’s 18.8% global estimate and ranked 21st in the report’s top-30 table. The United Arab Emirates led the country figures at 73.3%, followed by Singapore at 64.3% and Ireland at 49.9%.
| Economy | People ages 15–64 who used a generative AI product, Q2 2026 |
| United Arab Emirates | 73.3% |
| Singapore | 64.3% |
| Ireland | 49.9% |
| United States | 33.0% |
| South Korea | 40.6% |
South Korea recorded the largest Q1-to-Q2 increase among the economies in Microsoft’s top-30 table: 3.5 percentage points, reaching 40.6%. It moved from 16th to 12th in the ranking.
The Global North–South gap
Microsoft estimated Q2 diffusion at 28.8% in the Global North and 16.2% in the Global South, a difference of 12.6 percentage points. In Q1, the corresponding rates were 27.5% and 15.4%.
