By Cris Tolomia
Publication Date: 2026-09-28 14:28:00
Microsoft released its Global AI Diffusion report for the second quarter of 2026, showing that 18.8% of the world’s working-age population used generative AI in June, up roughly 1 percentage point from the first quarter. The increase was widespread, with almost no economy in the dataset sitting out the quarter.
The UAE led all countries at 73.3%, followed by Singapore at 64.3%, Ireland at 49.9%, and France at 49.6%. South Korea posted the largest absolute gain among major economies, adding 3.5 percentage points to reach 40.6% and climbing from 16th to 12th in the rankings. South Korea has now recorded the largest gain of any major economy for three consecutive reporting periods, adding nearly 15 percentage points over the past 12 months, the report said. Among all countries, Saudi Arabia climbed the most positions in the rankings, moving from 30th to 25th place. Japan recorded the largest relative change, growing 2.2 percentage points — roughly 10% relative to its first-quarter…