UK spending on AI subscriptions tops £1 billion a year

UK consumers spend more than £1 billion a year ($1.4 billion) on AI subscriptions, according to research reported by Bloomberg. An analysis of 14 million bank accounts and payment cards found that more than 5.1% of British adults now subscribe to paid AI services, double the share a year earlier.

ChatGPT attracts most of the spending, but Anthropic is narrowing the gap with OpenAI. Claude’s market share quadrupled between December 2025 and July 2026, driven by demand for higher-priced plans. The findings point to a growing willingness among consumers to pay for AI rather than rely on free services, as OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for IPOs.

Separate Stripe studies show Britain trails the United States by just 10% in consumer AI adoption, placing it well ahead of European Union countries. Britain’s Office for National Statistics data indicate that the economic gains from AI flow mainly to companies, even as the technology helped lift economic output by 1.8% between June and August 2026 compared with a year earlier.