Ramp data shows AI spending stalling just as Anthropic nears its IPO
· Business · TechCrunch
A new report from Ramp reveals that corporate AI spending flatlined over the late summer even as token volumes rose, suggesting price competition is capping revenue for major AI firms. Token spend grew by only 1.5% across August and September, a sharp drop compared to a 42% growth rate in July. Ramp s lead economist Ara Kharazian noted that venture-backed tech companies drive nearly all AI spending, with the top 1% of firms pulling back from their summer peaks of $10,000 per employee. Despite strong demand for AI coding agents, median firms continue to spend between $12 and $15 per employee per month, while top 10% firms spend between $600 and $1,000. Kharazian attributed the spending slowdown to fierce price competition, pointing to recent API price cuts by OpenAI and Anthropic that have made AI usage cheaper. October data did show an 8.9% rebound in token spend, but strong headwinds on spending growth persist.
Why it matters
The slowdown in enterprise AI spending signals that revenue growth for foundational AI providers like OpenAI and Anthropic may be plateauing, which could impact valuations as Anthropic approaches its initial public offering.
Read the original report — TechCrunch
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