At a Glance
- Anthropic analyzed 2 million conversations with Claude and found richer nations adopt AI faster.
- Lower-income countries show “no evidence yet” of catching up.
- 95% of businesses investing in generative AI have yet to see a positive return.
- Why it matters: Productivity gains may flow mainly to already-wealthy regions, deepening inequality.
AI’s promise of sky-high productivity may bypass the world’s poorer nations, according to a new analysis by Anthropic that spotlights widening adoption gaps between rich and low-income countries.
Global North Pulls Ahead
Anthropic reviewed 1 million user conversations from both free and paid versions of its Claude chatbot plus another 1 million exchanges via the Enterprise tier. The data show that richer countries are integrating AI into daily workflows at a pace that far outstrips lower-income nations.
Peter McCrory, Anthropic’s head of economics, told the Financial Times that if productivity gains do arrive, “you could see a divergence in living standards” that favors areas already flush with capital and infrastructure.
The pattern mirrors Microsoft’s latest AI adoption report, which found the “global north” almost doubled its uptake rate over the past year while the “global south” lagged. Overall, wealthier nations maintain a sizeable lead in total adoption.
Adoption ≠ Profit
Despite the rush to deploy generative AI, concrete financial returns remain elusive:
- MIT research shows 95% of firms investing in generative tools have not achieved net-positive ROI.
- Upwork surveyed employees and found about 50% don’t know how to hit the productivity targets their employers expect.
- More than 75% of workers said AI tools have actually cut their productivity and increased workload.
The findings suggest that simply rolling out chatbots does not guarantee efficiency or profit.
Wage Stagnation Warning
Historical data hint that even when technology boosts productivity, workers may not share the rewards. U.S. labor productivity has nearly doubled over the past five decades, yet real wages have remained largely flat while corporate profits and executive pay soared.
If the same dynamic plays out with AI, the economic upside could concentrate among top firms and shareholders rather than spread across the workforce.
Inequality Reality Check
Anthropic’s public acknowledgment of income inequality contrasts with recent tech-optimist claims. Elon Musk, for example, told audiences that saving for retirement may be pointless because universal high income will arrive once AI makes everything cheap.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, whose net worth is an estimated $3.7 billion, leads a company that continues to scale the same systems it warns could deepen global disparities.
Key Takeaways
- Wealthier nations adopt AI faster, risking a wider living-standards gap.
- Most companies have yet to turn AI spending into profit.
- Workers report mixed or negative productivity effects so far.
- Past tech waves show productivity gains don’t automatically raise wages.
