Anthropic Poised to Surpass OpenAI in Business AI Spending
- Anthropic is rapidly closing the gap with OpenAI in terms of U.S.
- Ramp reports that 50% of its customers now pay for AI products.
- At the current pace, Anthropic is on track to surpass OpenAI within the next two months
Anthropic is rapidly closing the gap with OpenAI in terms of U.S. Business AI spending, according to data from the finance automation and corporate card issuer Ramp. The data indicates that Anthropic is nearing a position where it may surpass OpenAI in business adoption.
Ramp reports that 50% of its customers now pay for AI products. Among these users, 30.6% utilize Anthropic, an increase of 6.3% since March 2026. OpenAI currently accounts for 35.2% of customers within the same group.
Ramp spokesperson
At the current pace, Anthropic is on track to surpass OpenAI within the next two months
The broader market for business AI adoption has seen a significant surge, doubling to an estimated $8.4 billion in the six months leading up to April 2026. While OpenAI has long been the primary beneficiary of the enterprise AI boom, Anthropic’s Claude model family has emerged as a primary challenger.
Sector Dominance and Adoption Drivers
Anthropic currently leads OpenAI in spending across three specific sectors: personal services, information, and finance, and insurance. The company also maintains a lead among early adopters, including professional services and software firms, as well as venture capital-backed companies.
One primary driver of this growth is Claude Code, which has gained significant traction among software developers and engineers. Benchmarking specialist Arena.ai has listed Anthropic as having top-performing models, which influences corporate procurement decisions.
Enterprise CTOs and CIOs are increasingly prioritizing nuanced reasoning capabilities, safety, and reliability over general-purpose chatbot functionality, areas where Claude has demonstrated efficacy.
The likelihood of a business adopting AI is strongly correlated with its funding source. According to Ramp, VC-backed businesses have an 80% adoption rate, while those backed by private-equity firms show a 64% adoption rate. Companies without either form of backing have a 45% adoption rate.
Political Conflict and Market Reaction
Anthropic’s corporate reputation received an unexpected boost in February 2026 following a dispute with the U.S. Government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged the company to accept the military’s terms of use for Claude or face being blacklisted.
Anthropic refused the terms, leading President Donald Trump to instruct federal agencies to cease using the company’s technology. The Department of Defense designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, and OpenAI stepped in to provide its services to the Department of Defense.
The conflict triggered a rally among some users. Claude temporarily surpassed ChatGPT on the App Store, and major technology firms, including Microsoft, expressed support for Anthropic.
Revenue Landscape and Competitive Strategy
Despite the current spending trends among Ramp customers, a significant revenue gap existed between the two companies earlier in the year. At the start of 2025, self-reported figures indicated that OpenAI led Anthropic in annualized revenue by $6 billion compared to Anthropic’s $1 billion.
As competition intensifies, the two companies are pursuing different monetization strategies. OpenAI is focusing on making advertising a key part of its business model for the ChatGPT app and website, while Anthropic remains focused on enterprise infrastructure and high-reasoning models.
Major corporations including Visa, Microsoft, and Meta have already encouraged their employees to integrate AI technology into daily workflows, contributing to the overall increase in enterprise spending.