The use of artificialintelligence (AI) Key results2026 edition The use of artificialintelligence (AI) Key results2026 edition This document should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2026 © European Union, 2026 The Commission’s reuse policy is implemented under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on thereuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39, ELI:http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2011/833/oj).Unlessotherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0International (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed,provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the European Union, permission may need to be soughtdirectly from the respective rightholders. The European Union does not own the copyright in relation to the following cover © Adobe Stock/GorodenkoffCollection: Statistical reportTheme: Science, technology, and innovation PDFISBN 978-92-68-37450-4ISSN series 2529-3222doi:10.2785/9221093KS-01-26-009-EN-N Abbreviations�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5 1�Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������62�Data sources and methodology��������������������������������������������������������������������������������72.1.Data sources.................................................................................................................72.2.Coordination of data compilation.............................................................................72.3.Methodology................................................................................................................82.3.1.EU survey on ICT and e-commerce in enterprises...................................................82.3.2.EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals..........................103�Data analysis�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������133.1.The use of AI technologies in enterprises...............................................................133.2.The use of generative AI tools by individuals........................................................384�Challenges���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������435�Opportunities and next steps���������������������������������������������������������������������������������456�Conclusions��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47 The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is transforming business operations and everyday life in the EuropeanUnion (EU), affecting both enterprises and individuals. This report presents data analysis and describes the methodologicalapproaches and challenges involved in producing official statistics on the use of AI based on data from EU surveys on the For enterprises, the analysis examines the usage of AI technologies across size classes (small, medium and large enterprises)and different economic activities, including the purposes for which the AI technologies were used and how they wereacquired. The findings reveal that larger enterprises exhibit a greater uptake of AI technologies. This might be explained,among other reasons, by the complexity of implementing AI technologies in an enterprise, economies of scale, and thecosts involved. Conversely, small to medium enterprises face challenges such as a lack of relevant expertise. The analysis Complementing these results, the report also analyses AI use among individuals, drawing on newly introduced surveyquestions focused on generative AI. The results indicate that individual AI use had already reached a relatively high level bythe time of this first measurement exercise and is currently dominated by use for private purposes. Socio-demographic By analysing both enterprises and individuals, this paper provides a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics ofAI use in the EU, while retaining a nuanced view. AIartificial intelligenceICTinformation and communication technologyICT ENTsurvey on the use of information and communication technology and e-commerce in enterprises ICT HHsurvey on the use of information and communication technology in households and by individualsNSInational statistical institute Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines, enabling them to perform tasks such asproblem-solving, decision-making and the understanding of language. Essentially, AI enables machines to carry outcomplex tasks by mimicking human cognitive processes. AI syst