United States: The BTOS Investigation Replaces AI with "Super Intelligence"

Key Takeaways

1The U.S. Census Bureau replaced the term "Artificial Intelligence" with "Super Intelligence" in the BTOS survey starting October 19, 2026

2This change follows an evolution in the scope of the question in 2025, shifting from production to all business functions

3Responses from large companies increased from about 12% in September 2025 to 40% in October 2026, but the series are not comparable

Why it matters : The modification of the wording and scope of the question in BTOS complicates tracking the adoption of AI (or SI) in U.S. businesses and makes it difficult to compare data over time.

The U.S. Census Bureau has updated the wording of its BTOS survey starting from the collection on October 19, 2026, now referring to "Super Intelligence" instead of "Artificial Intelligence." This shift comes after a scope change in 2025 that makes the series not directly comparable. The first results with the new terminology are expected on a Thursday, according to the usual schedule.

Terminology Changes Starting October 19, 2026, Linked to Executive Order 14434

Since the collection on October 19, 2026, the U.S. Census Bureau has modified the wording of the technology question in the BTOS survey, in accordance with Executive Order 14434. The question now refers to "Super Intelligence" or SI, specifying that this is the new term for "Artificial Intelligence" or AI. Several examples of SI usage are cited, such as data analysis, generative SI for marketing, product design or coding, virtual SI agents for customer service, SI-powered forecasting or pricing, and computer vision for quality control. The figures currently published are still based on the old AI wording, and the first results aligned with the new terminology are set to be published on a Thursday.

Frequency, Panel, and Release of BTOS: A Biweekly Measure at 10 AM

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) every two weeks. In each cycle, 200,000 businesses are surveyed from a total panel of 1.2 million. Each business responds only once every twelve weeks. Results are published on alternating Thursdays at 10 AM. The latest data used for the adoption graph was published on October 22, 2026. Employment size analyses rely on a dedicated XLSX file, and the questionnaire sent to businesses is available in a PDF of approximately 346 KB.

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Two Successive Scopes: From Production to Business Functions

On November 17, 2025, the question regarding AI usage in BTOS changed its scope. Before this date, it focused on the use of AI to produce goods or services. On December 3, 2025, the Bureau officially announced a significant modification: the question now pertains to the use of AI in any business function. Therefore, responses collected before and after November 17, 2025, are not directly comparable.

What Responses from Large Companies Showed in 2025-2026

For companies with 250 employees or more, about 12% answered yes in September 2025 to the question about using AI for the production of goods or services. With the new formulation covering all business functions, about 30% answered yes in February 2026, and then approximately 40% in October 2026. These measures concern the size class of at least 250 employees.

Comparability and Upcoming Publications: Points of Attention

Due to the successive changes in wording, the response series are not directly comparable between the periods before and after November 2025, and a new methodological threshold is introduced with the adoption of the term "Super Intelligence." The upcoming results incorporating this terminology are expected on a Thursday, according to the usual cadence. Businesses had only seen the question twelve weeks prior under the AI title, with the current version recalling the old term in parentheses, which sets the context for the forthcoming responses.