Anthropic overtakes OpenAI in workplace AI adoption

Data: Ramp; Chart: Madison Mills/Axios

Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in business adoption for the first time in April, according to Ramp's latest AI Index.

Why it matters: As both companies race toward what could become some of the biggest IPOs in history, enterprise adoption — typically a larger revenue driver than customer usage — is a key metric for investors.

By the numbers: Anthropic adoption among businesses using Ramp, an expense management startup, rose 3.8% in April to 34.4% of businesses, while OpenAI adoption fell 2.9% to 32.3%.

Alongside the data, Ramp's economist Ara Kharazian published a list of reasons he's still bearish on Anthropic.

"Anthropic's incentives are misaligned with those of business customers," Kharazian wrote. Because the company makes more money when businesses purchase more tokens, he noted, "Anthropic is incentivized to drive users to more expensive models, even when cheaper models are sufficient and faster for many tasks."

Between the lines: It's a notable plot twist in the AI model drama, where OpenAI was once viewed as the category leader given its first-mover advantage.

Reality check: OpenAI remains a giant consumer brand and has previously said it is on pace to generate more revenue than Anthropic this year.

Axios previously reported that Anthropic was capturing more than 73% of spending among first-time AI buyers using Ramp data.

An OpenAI spokesperson said, "we are driving enterprise transformation at scale. These are not engagements where customers pay with a credit card," referencing how Ramp acquires its data.

What they're saying: Ramp's Kharazian wrote that the results mark "a stunning reversal in the competitive market dynamics for AI model providers."

The bottom line: Anthropic's momentum is real — but in a fast-moving AI market, a one-month lead is not yet a moat.