Growing an AI brand
US private AI investment reached $285.9 billion in 2025, and 49% of US adults use AI chatbots. Reach buyers on LinkedIn and developers on GitHub and Hugging Face.
How big is the AI industry?
US private AI investment reached $285.9 billion in 2025, and 17% to 20% of US businesses used AI between December 2025 and May 2026.
| Measure | Figure | Year |
|---|---|---|
| US private AI investment | $285.9 billion | 2025 |
| US adults who use AI chatbots | 49% | 2026 |
| US businesses using AI | 17% to 20% | Dec 2025 to May 2026 |
| Computer and information research scientist jobs | 38,600 | 2025 |
| Projected growth in those jobs | 22% | 2025 to 2035 |
The investment figure comes from Stanford HAI's 2026 AI Index, and the business figure from the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey.[1, 2, 3, 4, secondary]
Who are AI users?
Adults under 30 use AI chatbots most, and men and women use them at similar rates. Information-sector businesses use AI at about twice the national rate.
| Group | What the figures show |
|---|---|
| Ages 18 to 29 | 66% use AI chatbots |
| Ages 65 and older | 23% use AI chatbots |
| Men and women | 50% and 47% use AI chatbots |
| Information-sector businesses | 39.7% use AI |
Which platforms should an AI brand grow on?
Start on LinkedIn, which reaches 45% of US adults earning $100,000 or more, and on GitHub and Hugging Face for developers.
Share your code on GitHub, where more than 1.1 million public repositories used an LLM SDK in 2025. Share models on Hugging Face, which lists more than 3 million models. Point them all at your .com or .ai. The FTC has ordered an AI company to back claims about how well its product works with "competent and reliable evidence." For domain endings and trademark classes, see naming an AI brand.[6, 7, 8, 9, secondary]
Checks the .com, the .ai, GitHub, Hugging Face, X and LinkedIn in one search.
Who are the top AI creators?
TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential people in AI includes Allie K. Miller and Refik Anadol, and the 2026 Webby Awards honored AI filmmaker James Gerde.
| Creator | Known for | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Allie K. Miller | Teaches people to use AI in online workshops; runs the advisory firm Open Machine | TIME100 AI 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| Refik Anadol | AI artist behind Dataland, billed as the world's first museum of AI arts | TIME100 AI 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| James Gerde | An AI-native filmmaker and creator | Webby Awards 2026 (opens in a new tab), Special Achievement in Creative AI |
Which sites are the authorities on AI?
The Stanford AI Index, NIST, OECD.AI and the FTC are the main authorities on AI data, standards, policy and marketing claims.
| Site | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Stanford AI Index (opens in a new tab) | An independent initiative at Stanford HAI that tracks data on AI | Investment, research and adoption figures |
| NIST AI Risk Management Framework (opens in a new tab) | A US government framework for managing AI risks, for voluntary use | Building trustworthy AI products |
| OECD.AI (opens in a new tab) | An online platform promoting trustworthy, human-centric AI | AI policy and incident tracking |
| Federal Trade Commission (opens in a new tab) | The US agency that protects Americans from unfair and deceptive business practices | Rules on AI marketing claims |
Sources (15)
- SecondaryStanford HAI: The 2026 AI Index Report (opens in a new tab), top takeaways
- SecondaryPew Research Center: How opinions and use of AI differ by age (archived copy) (opens in a new tab), survey of 5,119 US adults, 17 to
- PrimaryUS Census Bureau: Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (opens in a new tab), Business Trends and Outlook Survey
- PrimaryUS Bureau of Labor Statistics: Computer and Information Research Scientists (opens in a new tab), Occupational Outlook Handbook
- SecondaryPew Research Center: The gender gap in AI (archived copy) (opens in a new tab)
- SecondaryPew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab), survey of US adults
- PrimaryGitHub: Octoverse 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryHugging Face: Models (opens in a new tab), the Hub's live model count
- PrimaryFTC: Final order against Workado, LLC (opens in a new tab)
- SecondaryTIME100 AI 2025 (opens in a new tab), profiles of Allie K. Miller and Refik Anadol
- PrimaryWebby Awards: 30th Annual Webby Awards announce 2026 winners (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryStanford HAI: AI Index (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryNIST: AI Risk Management Framework (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryOECD.AI: About (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryFTC: About the FTC (opens in a new tab)