Anthropic Surpasses OpenAI in UK Corporate AI Spending

Corporate expenditure on Anthropic subscriptions has exceeded that of OpenAI within the United Kingdom for the first time, according to new market analysis. The shift highlights the growing influence of enterprise-focused artificial intelligence providers as businesses increasingly adopt advanced models. Data indicates that Anthropic captured 54 per cent of all UK business spending on AI firms during the three months leading up to July. In contrast, OpenAI’s share of this specific market segment fell to 27 per cent during the same period.

This represents a significant reversal from the first quarter of the year, when OpenAI held a dominant position with 42 per cent of business AI spend compared to Anthropic’s 34 per cent. The figures are derived from an analysis of transaction data provided by Capital on Tap, a London-based corporate credit card issuer that processes tens of billions of pounds annually. The dataset covers hundreds of thousands of business customers, offering a detailed view of spending trends among small and medium-sized enterprises. The analysis excludes payments for AI services embedded within broader software platforms offered by technology giants such as Google and Microsoft, as these transactions cannot be reliably distinguished from non-AI spending.

The data underscores a broader acceleration in AI adoption across the UK corporate sector. More than one in eight companies incurred costs related to AI firms in the second quarter of this year, a marked increase from just one in twenty at the start of last year. Damian Brycy, chief executive of Capital on Tap, noted that adoption rates continue to rise steeply and could potentially triple from current levels. He raised questions regarding the sustainability of this growth should providers increase subscription fees. The average quarterly AI spend for the customer base stood at £288, although this figure was significantly influenced by heavy users in the top percentile, who spent over £3,000 per quarter. Additionally, spending on ‘vibe coding’ tools rose from five per cent of total AI expenditure last year to 16 per cent recently.