The Microstructure of AI Diffusion: Evidence from Firms, Business Functions, and Worker Tasks

This paper accompanies the Spring 2026 release of the public data based on the new AI supplement in Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS).Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the U.S. Census Bureau or the National Bureau of Economic Research.The Census Bureau has reviewed this data product to ensure appropriate access, use, and disclosure avoidance protection of the confidential source data (Project No. P-7529868, Disclosure Review Board (DRB) approval number: CBDRB-FY26-0159).We