The U.S. Census Bureau and “Super Intelligence”
- ID
- 41965
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 02 Nov 2026, 9:31 PM
- Fetched
- 03 Nov 2026, 1:58 PM
- Provider
- Simon Willison
- Category
- developer-ai
- Original URL
- https://simonwillison.net/2026/Nov/2/census-bureau-super-intelligence/
- Source URL
- https://simonwillison.net/atom/everything/
Summary
- Score
- 6.0
- Created
- 03 Nov 2026, 1:59 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- saas_foundersai_ml_learnersdevelopers
What happened
Simon Willison reran the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey AI-adoption chart using data published October 22, 2026. The survey wording changed on November 17, 2025 from AI used “in producing goods or services” to AI used in “any of its business functions”; for firms with 250+ employees, “yes” responses went from about 12% in September 2025 to about 30% by February 2026 and about 40% by October 2026. He also notes the Bureau has run into Executive Order 14434, the “Super Intelligence” order.
Why it matters
If you cite Census AI-adoption numbers in a pitch, benchmark, or market map, do not treat the jump from roughly 12% to 40% as pure adoption growth: the question changed on November 17, 2025, so pre- and post-change figures are not directly comparable. Use the post-change “any business function” numbers only for like-for-like comparisons.
Discussion angle
Which AI-adoption stats in your feed depend on changed survey wording or definitions, and how would you normalize them before using them in a product or funding decision?