Top 1% companies now spending Rs 7 lakh on AI for every employee, report says

AI tools are not cheap, and companies are going all-in on AI. The result? Spending on AI is increasing. As per a new report, the top 1 per cent of companies now spend $7,400 (roughly Rs 7 lakh) per employee on AI.Some companies are spending $7,400 (roughly Rs 7 lakh) on AI for every employee as per a new report. (Photo: Reuters)Almost every company today is pushing employees to use AI in one form or the other. But AI tools come with a cost. As per a new report, the cost of AI tools for companies is increasing with the top 1 per cent now spending roughly Rs 7 lakh per employee.As per Ramp’s AI Index, last month, the top 1 per cent of companies in the US were spending a median $7,400 (roughly Rs 7 lakh) for each employee on AI. This figure has risen sharply in recent months. For context, the study says that in January, the top 1 per cent were spending $2,590 for every employee, or roughly Rs 2,47,500.This report comes at a time when AI costs have continued to increase as companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have shifted to a per-token model. Here, the AI labs bill companies on the basis of tokens used. In simple terms, the more work you do with an AI tool, the more tokens you consume.Though some companies have started to crackdown on excessive AI use to keep costs in check. In recent months, Uber, Amazon, and Walmart have capped the token usage for employees. Big firms spending more on AIAs per the report, AI spending varies largely depending on the company. While the top 1 per cent are spending $7,400, the top 10 per cent of companies were spending $650 (roughly Rs 62,000) per employee. Overall, the median spending stood at only $11.95 (roughly Rs 1,140) per employee.The report adds that the gap between firms that are deeply investing in AI and those using it far more lightly is widening. Keep in mind that the rising spending on AI tools has grabbed the attention of many in the tech industry. Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, "It's kind of a meme now, ‘My company spent my entire 2026 budget in Q1, can you make this more efficient?’"On the other hand, Nvidia executive Bryan Catanzaro said in April, “For my team, the cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees.”As per the report, Anthropic continues to lead AI adoption for businesses in the US at 43.5 per cent, OpenAI stood at 39.7 per cent. Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI has 4 per cent share. There also seems to be a growing use of model-serving platforms that give access to open-source models and some Chinese models. Their share rose to 6.1 per cent of AI-using businesses in July. The report claimed that this has not yet meaningfully hurt spending on OpenAI and Anthropic, but it suggests that heavier AI users are increasingly mixing in cheaper open-source options.- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Aug 17, 2026 09:55 IST