The U.S. Census Bureau and “Super Intelligence”

The U.S. Census Bureau's biweekly Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which polls 200,000 of 1.2 million U.S. businesses, shows large-company (250+ employees) AI adoption rising from about 12% in September 2025 to roughly 30% by February 2026 and around 40% by October 2026—but the jump partly reflects a question change, not pure adoption growth. On November 17, 2025, the Bureau replaced its question about AI used "in producing goods or services" with broader wording covering "any of its business functions," making pre- and post-change responses not directly comparable. The survey change followed Executive Order 14434, the so-called "Super Intelligence" order, and from October 19, 2026 the Bureau's questions reference Super Intelligence. The latest data, published October 22, 2026, comes from the Bureau's "Employment size class" file. The widening gap between the narrow and broad question wording means headline AI adoption figures may overstate real production use. Watch for whether future BTOS releases reconcile the methodology break or add continuity questions to preserve the time series.