PARIS, France / ConSynSer / – Artificial intelligence adoption is expanding rapidly across OECD economies, but wide gaps between businesses and generations risk limiting its benefits. Large firms are more than twice as likely to use AI as the average firm, according to a new OECD report. Young people are almost five times as likely as older adults to use generative AI. The findings come from the OECD Digital Economy and Society Outlook 2026, released on November 5. Secretary-General Mathias Cormann presented its key findings at the Tallinn Digital Summit.
The report estimates that 20% of enterprises with 10 or more employees used AI in 2025. That compared with 52% of large enterprises with 250 or more staff. Smaller firms are expected to narrow the gap in cloud computing adoption by 2030. However, the divide in AI adoption is projected to persist without targeted support. By the end of the decade, AI uptake among large firms could be nearly 80% higher than the average across all firms.
Among individuals, generative AI use reached 37% in 2025. Uptake was higher among younger, highly educated and higher-income groups. Internet use among people aged 55 to 74 rose from 58% in 2015 to 87% in 2025, narrowing gaps in basic digital access. Yet only 14% of older adults used generative AI, compared with 68% of those aged 16 to 24. Among older adults, 43% said they saw no need for AI, while 12% cited a lack of skills.
Finance, skills and costs hold back smaller firms
Cormann said AI adoption among firms continues to expand, but it must spread to firms of every size to lift productivity and competitiveness. Cormann pointed to wider access to cloud services, targeted support for AI and big data analytics and stronger interoperability and open standards. The report finds limited access to finance, digital infrastructure and specialised skills continues to constrain smaller businesses. Firms also face implementation costs and uncertainty about legal and data protection rules.
More than half of enterprises across the OECD already use cloud computing. Yet only around 12% of firms combine AI, cloud computing and big data analytics, a mix concentrated in large firms and knowledge-intensive sectors. Investment in AI infrastructure is meanwhile rising fast. Venture capital investment in AI firms specialising in IT infrastructure and hosting more than doubled from $54.5 billion in 2024 to $123.9 billion in 2025. Australia’s own data centre boom has drawn scrutiny over its public benefits.
Cybersecurity climbs the digital policy agenda
Governments are also changing how they manage the digital transition. Based on 1,497 policy initiatives across 42 countries in 2025, the report finds digital policy has shifted towards technology-specific approaches. AI was the most frequently cited technology in those initiatives. Digital government remained the top policy priority over the past decade. Cybersecurity rose to second place in 2025, its highest position in the decade of data collection.
Responsibility for national digital strategies is shifting to dedicated digital ministries. Among countries with a strategy, 60% assigned primary responsibility to such a ministry in 2025, up from 24% in 2016. The ICT sector across the OECD is estimated to have grown by 5% in 2025. ICT value creation and sourcing remain concentrated in a small number of production and supply hubs. The OECD also flagged gaps in public sector AI deployment last year.