Artificial intelligence acceptance is strengthening at a rapid pace, with the adoption rate improving from 9.2% in the US in the second quarter of 2025 to 9.7% in the third quarter of 2025. According to a report by investment bank and financial services firm UBS, this puts the industry on track to reach a 10% AI adoption rate by the end of the year, a threshold often seen as the tipping point before widespread exponential growth in technology cycles.
The report highlights that AI adoption is happening much faster than smartphone or e-commerce adoption. It took just three years for AI to reach the initial 10% adoption rate, compared to five years for smartphones and 24 years for e-commerce. This accelerated pace suggests the AI industry may soon enter an exponential adoption phase, disproportionately benefiting companies exposed to the intelligence and application layers.
UBS believes companies operating in the intelligence and application layers of the AI stack are best positioned to benefit from the next wave of growth. The report draws parallels with the smartphone boom, where penetration surged from 10% to 68% over the following five years, driven by a rapidly maturing ecosystem. Similarly, AI's ecosystem is showing signs of readiness for a rapid scale-up, driven by advances in reasoning models, strong enterprise commitments, and robust funding trends.
