Global AI Adoption in 2025: A Widening Digital Divide (www.microsoft.com)

Global adoption of generative AI surged by 1.2 percentage points in the latter half of 2025, now reaching approximately 16.3% of the global population. This growth marks significant progress for a technology that has only recently gained traction, with one in six people engaging with AI tools for various applications. However, a concerning trend has emerged: the adoption rate in the Global North has climbed nearly twice as fast as in the Global South, resulting in a widening digital divide. For instance, 24.7% of the working-age population in the Global North utilizes AI, compared to just 14.1% in the Global South. Key players in the AI landscape include the UAE, which has maintained its lead with a remarkable 64% AI usage rate, while South Korea has ascended sharply in rankings, now ranked 18th globally due to robust government initiatives and advances in Korean language models. The rise of DeepSeek, an open-source AI platform offering free access, highlights the growing accessibility of AI in underserved markets like China, Russia, and parts of Africa. This shift underscores the importance of equitable AI distribution; as innovation continues to accelerate, ensuring that these advancements benefit a wider range of communities will be imperative to narrowing the digital divide.