AI adoption is growing worldwide, but regional gaps are widening

Microsoft's Global AI Diffusion Report found that worldwide AI usage reached 18.8% of the working-age population in June 2026, up about 1% from the first quarter, with the UAE at 73.3% and Singapore at 64.3% leading all economies. The report, derived from aggregated and anonymized Microsoft telemetry on generative AI product use among people aged 15 to 64, recorded the largest absolute gain in South Korea at 3.5 percentage points, the largest rankings rise in Saudi Arabia (30th to 25th), and the largest relative gain in Japan at 2.2 percentage points, or roughly 10% above its Q1 usage of 22.5%. The North-South gap widened, with usage at 28.8% in the Global North versus 16.2% in the Global South, and Microsoft said its next report will add newer AI tools, a change expected to raise user share in almost all economies, with larger projected increases in China.

Today we published our latest Global AI Diffusion Report http://aka.ms/AIDiffusionGlobal . Global AI diffusion continued to climb in the second quarter of 2026. In June, AI usage was 18.8% of the working-age population worldwide, an increase of about 1% from the first quarter of this year. Growth was broad-based: almost every economy saw increased usage. Notably, the UAE 73.3% and Singapore 64.3% continue to top the leaderboard. South Korea again saw the largest absolute change, with an increase of 3.5 percentage points. Saudi Arabia climbed five places from 30th to 25th, the largest rise in the rankings. Japan recorded the largest relative change, growing by 2.2 percentage points, or roughly 10% relative to its Q1 usage of 22.5%. Worldwide, the quarter brought a continued widening of the AI gap between the Global North and South, with usage now at 28.8% in the North and 16.2% in the South. To track all these trends, we continue to measure AI diffusion as the share of people worldwide ages of 15 and 64 who have used a generative AI product during the reported period. This measure is derived from aggregated and anonymized Microsoft telemetry data and is adjusted to reflect differences in operating system and device market share, internet penetration, and population. Additional details on the methodology are available in our AI Diffusion technical paper. No single metric is perfect, and this one is no exception. Through the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, we continue to refine how we measure AI diffusion globally, including how adoption varies across countries in ways that best advance priorities such as scientific discovery and productivity gains. For this report, we rely on the strongest cross-country measure available today. Over the past year, there has been a significant rise in new AI tools and models. For our next report, we will expand our measure to include usage of these new tools and expect this update to increase AI user share across almost all economies, with larger projected increases in China. In addition to our comparison of AI diffusion between the Global North and the Global South, we also find important differences in how AI is being used. Using consumer Microsoft Copilot usage insights, we examined these differences. The most notable difference is a higher share of education and learning use in the Global South. This report also includes a substantive discussion of open-weight AI models. Open-weight AI model use is increasingly visible through application programming interface API usage of AI, where open models have captured a growing share of token volume. This shift could especially benefit the Global South by lowering access costs and enabling adaptation to local languages and needs, although barriers such as infrastructure, connectivity, and skills remain. Download the latest Global AI Diffusion report http://aka.ms/AIDiffusionGlobal and explore the data here http://aka.ms/AIDiffusionReport2026Q2 .