Menlo Ventures: Consumer AI Spending Tripled to $40B in a Year
Consumer spending on AI tripled over the past year, from $12 billion to $40 billion, according to Menlo Ventures’ 2026 State of Consumer AI report, which surveyed 5,067 US adults with Morning Consult. With roughly 2 billion users worldwide, the growth comes from existing users doing more rather than from new adopters. In the US, 64% of adults use AI and 25% use it daily; 55% of users pay, about 90 million people, mostly $20 to $49 per month, and the 14% who spend over $100 a month generate 60% of all revenue.
Assistant share is narrowing: ChatGPT is used by 60%, Gemini has closed to 58%, and Claude nearly tripled from 7% to 20%. Users now keep about three assistants at once, mixing rather than switching. Agents are entering the mainstream, with 72% awareness and 24% regular use, and 92% of agent users pay for them; Codex (35%) and Claude Code / Cowork (32%) lead, and one in three users now lets AI act without final confirmation. Accuracy and trust overtook convenience as the main selection criterion, and 48% of users already earn money with AI (62% among Gen Z).
For 2027, Menlo projects agents will influence $100 billion in online sales and that in-AI advertising becomes its own channel. ChatGPT ads are reported to have reached a $1 billion annual run rate in 200 days.
Related: ChatGPT Ads Passes $1B Annualized Revenue in Under 200 Days