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Microsoft: Global AI Use Hits 17.8% in Q1 2026, With Asia Accelerating
- Global AI adoption reached 17.8% of the working-age population in Q1 2026, up 1.5 percentage points from the prior quarter, according to Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion Report. The UAE led all nations at 70.1%, while 26 economies now exceed 30% usage. The United States ranked 21st with a 31.3% usage rate.
- Asia saw notable acceleration, driven by improved multilingual AI capabilities, with South Korea, Thailand, and Japan recording the largest regional gains. Despite this progress, the gap between the Global North and Global South widened to 27.5% versus 15.4%. In software development, AI coding tools contributed to a 78% year-over-year rise in git pushes, while U.S. developer employment reached a record 2.2 million.
Global AI adoption climbed to nearly 18% of the world’s working-age population in the first quarter of 2026, according to Microsoft’s latest Global AI Diffusion Report, even as the gap between wealthy and developing nations continued to widen and Asia emerged as a surprising bright spot.
Key takeaways
- Global AI adoption reached 17.8% of the world’s working-age population in Q1 2026, with the UAE leading at 70.1% and 26 economies now surpassing 30% usage.
- Asia is the quarter’s biggest mover thanks to better multilingual AI, but the Global North–South gap widened to 27.5% versus 15.4%.
- AI coding tools drove git pushes up 78% year over year, yet U.S. software developer employment hit a record 2.2 million, up 8.5%.
Usage up 1.5 points in a single quarter
AI usage increased by 1.5 percentage points from 16.3% to 17.8% of the world’s working-age population during the first quarter of 2026, Microsoft Chief Data Scientist Juan Lavista Ferres wrote in a company blog post accompanying the report’s release. The growth was not confined to countries just beginning to adopt the technology. Intensity of use among economies with the highest rates of AI diffusion also increased, with 26 economies now exceeding 30% of the working age population using AI, a sign that even mature AI markets have room to deepen adoption rather than plateau.
At the top of Microsoft’s National AI Leaderboard, the United Arab Emirates continued to lead global AI diffusion at 70.1%, far outpacing the rest of the field. The United States finally started to move up the national rankings, albeit only from 24th to 21st, based on a 31.3% usage rate among its working-age population. The modest climb suggests that, despite being home to many of the world’s leading AI developers, American adoption has lagged behind smaller, faster-moving economies.
Asia accelerates, but the North-South divide keeps growing
Among the quarter’s notable developments was accelerating AI adoption across Asia, driven in part by improving AI capabilities in Asian languages. South Korea, Thailand, and Japan saw the greatest movement of any countries in the region, pointing to multilingual model improvements as a meaningful driver of new usage. Ferres highlighted Japan specifically as a case study on the positive impact of enhanced multilingual AI capabilities.
Despite that regional progress, the report found the broader global divide continued to widen. Usage now stands at 27.5% in the Global North compared with 15.4% in the Global South, a gap that grew even as overall global adoption rose.
How Microsoft measures diffusion
Microsoft tracks AI diffusion as the share of people worldwide between ages 15 and 64 who have used a generative AI product during the reported period. The measure is derived from aggregated and anonymized Microsoft telemetry, adjusted for differences in OS and device-market share, internet penetration, and country population. The company acknowledged that no single metric captures the full picture, and said that through the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, it continues refining how it measures diffusion globally, including how adoption varies across countries in ways that advance priorities like scientific discovery and productivity gains, while planning to add further indicators over time.
Sectorally, the report’s clearest story was in software development. Strengthened AI coding capabilities led to a dramatic increase in code production, reflected in output from Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. Git pushes, through which developers post coding changes online, rose 78% year over year globally.
Crucially, the report found evidence that AI coding tools may, for now, be increasing rather than reducing demand for software developers. Microsoft explained the logic: as developer productivity rises, the cost of building software falls, and if demand for software is elastic, organizations respond by building more software across a wider range of use cases.
The employment data support that reasoning. In 2025, total U.S. software developer employment reached approximately 2.2 million, up 8.5% year over year and a record high for the profession. Early 2026 figures show developer employment in March was about 4% higher than in March 2025.
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President Donald Trump says the U.S. can no longer absorb massive trade losses with Canada, dismissing concerns that the tariff fight could drive up costs for Americans ahead of the midterms.
President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of Canada on Sunday, accusing the country of “ripping” the U.S. off “for decades” as he defended his tariff policies and urged Canadian companies to move their operations south of the border.
In back-to-back Truth Social posts Sunday afternoon, Trump first credited tariffs with strengthening the U.S. auto industry and keeping American manufacturing plants open.
“When I announced that I was running in the 2024 Presidential Election, right at the beginning, Ford was getting ready to close their Big Factory, in Detroit,” Trump wrote.
Trump claimed the plant is now “running 24/7” and has become “one of the most profitable Car Plants in the World.”
CANADA PLANS TARIFF RETALIATION AFTER TRUMP WARNS ITS LEADERS TO ‘FALL IN LINE’
U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House on Aug. 20, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
“There are many other examples, for both Ford, General Motors, and others. I’ve revived, and indeed saved, the Automobile Business in our America. That’s because of what I’ve done with TARIFFS,” he said.
Trump then shifted his focus to Canada, describing the longtime U.S. ally as one of the country’s “worst” trade offenders.
“One of the Worst Abusers is Canada. I don’t want Canadian cars, I don’t want Canadian parts, I don’t want Canadian anything. They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop,” Trump wrote.
TRUMP SAYS 50% TARIFFS ON CANADIAN VEHICLE, STEEL IMPORTS TO HIT JAN 1
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Ottawa, Ontario, on Aug. 22, 2026, after trade talks with the US collapsed. (Dave Chan / AFP via Getty Images)
“This should have happened long ago with other Presidents, just as stopping Iran should have happened long ago,” he continued. “They want to be treated like a State, but they aren’t one. I deal with the Leadership of many Countries, but I find Canada to be the worst. They are entitled no longer!”
Minutes later, Trump followed up with another post urging Canadian companies that do business with the U.S. to relocate their operations south of the border.
“Let all Canadian Companies that are doing business with America move to the United States, immediately. Many of them are Companies that moved out years ago due to stupid U.S. Leadership. When you move back, there are no TARIFFS!” Trump wrote.
TRUMP FIRES BACK AT CANADA AFTER CARNEY SUSPENDS TRADE TALKS, ACCUSES US OF LAST-MINUTE ‘POWER PLAY’
Trump claimed the Ford plant is now “running 24/7” and has become “one of the most profitable Car Plants in the World.” (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The president’s comments come amid escalating trade tensions between the two longtime allies.
U.S. tariffs of 50% on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods took effect Aug. 22 after trade talks collapsed. Canada retaliated with tariffs on roughly $20 billion in U.S. imports that are set to take effect Sept. 8, according to Reuters.
The White House, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors did not immediately respond to requests from FOX Business for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Ukraine seeks U.S. investment for defence technology fund – FT
TORONTO—Canadian honey producers are feeling the sting from President Trump’s new tariffs. So are exporters of artwork, wool, cosmetics, flowers and hundreds of other goods that depend on the U.S. market.
The Canadian economy as a whole is projected to withstand the new tariffs of 50% on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, or about 5% of Canada’s U.S.-bound exports. But many small and medium-size Canadian business owners are expected to bear the brunt of the pain, and some fear they could be put out of business without a resolution to the trade spat.
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