By Aijaz Alam
How many Americans use AI chatbots?
49% of US adults said they use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot in Pew Research Center's survey of 5,119 adults in February 2026, up from about a third in 2024 (a differently worded question). 24% use one every day. Use falls with age, from 66% of adults 18 to 29 to 23% of those 65 and older.
- 49%US adults who use AI chatbotsPew Research Center, Feb 2026
- 24%US adults who use a chatbot every dayPew Research Center, Feb 2026
- 42%US adults who use chatbots to search for informationPew Research Center, Feb 2026
- 66%Adults 18 to 29 who use AI chatbots, against 23% of those 65 and olderPew Research Center, Feb 2026
- 64%US teens 13 to 17 who use AI chatbotsPew Research Center, Sep-Oct 2025
The numbers
The full breakdown
How often US adults use AI chatbots (Feb 2026)
| How often | Share of US adults |
|---|---|
| Almost constantly | 4% |
| Several times a day | 12% |
| About once a day | 8% |
| Several times a week or less | 25% |
| Do not use chatbots | 51% |
| Daily or more often (total) | 24% |
Pew Research Center, 5,119 US adults, 17-23 Feb 2026. The first four rows add up to the 49% who use chatbots.
US adults using AI chatbots, by age (Feb 2026)
| Age | Use AI chatbots | Use one daily | Use them to search for information | Use them for work (employed adults) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 29 | 66% | 31% | 54% | 41% |
| 30 to 49 | 61% | 34% | 53% | 43% |
| 50 to 64 | 42% | 19% | 37% | 29% |
| 65 and older | 23% | 7% | 20% | 18% |
| All US adults | 49% | 24% | 42% | 38% |
Pew Research Center, 17-23 Feb 2026, chapter on age. The work column counts employed adults only.
What US adults use AI chatbots for (Feb 2026)
| Use of AI chatbots | Share of US adults |
|---|---|
| To search for information | 42% |
| For tasks at work (employed adults) | 38% |
| For fun or entertainment | 25% |
| To create or edit images or videos | 24% |
| To get medical advice | 20% |
| To get diet and fitness information | 20% |
| To get news | 13% |
| For emotional support or advice | 10% |
| For companionship | 4% |
Shares of all US adults, except work (employed adults).
US teens 13 to 17 using AI chatbots (Sep-Oct 2025)
| Group | Use AI chatbots | Use one daily |
|---|---|---|
| All teens 13 to 17 | 64% | About 3 in 10 |
| Ages 15 to 17 | 68% | 31% |
| Ages 13 to 14 | 57% | 24% |
| Black teens | About 7 in 10 | 35% |
| Hispanic teens | About 7 in 10 | 33% |
| White teens | 58% | 22% |
Pew Research Center, 1,458 US teens, 25 Sep-9 Oct 2025. 16% of teens use chatbots several times a day or almost constantly. 66% of teens in households earning $75,000 or more use them, against 56% in households under $30,000.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44% | Feb 2026 | Pew Research Center | Adults who use ChatGPT, one chatbot, not any chatbot. |
| 33% | 2024 | Pew Research Center | Asked only of adults who had heard of chatbots, with different wording, so the rise to 49% is not a clean trend. |
| About 62% | May 2026 | Real-Time Population Survey, via St. Louis Fed | Adults 18 to 64 who use any generative AI, at work or at home; leaves out those 65 and older. |
| About 50% | Nov 2025 | Real-Time Population Survey, via Fed FEDS Note | Non-work generative AI use among adults 18 to 64, a different question in an earlier wave. |
| 64% | Sep-Oct 2025 | Pew Research Center | Teens 13 to 17, a younger group, in a separate survey. |
Pew's 49% is the clearest answer for all US adults, but other surveys give from about half to over 60%. The gap comes from three choices.
What counts as use. Pew asks about AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot. The Real-Time Population Survey asks about generative AI of any kind, which also covers image tools and AI built into other software, so it finds more users.
Who is asked. The Real-Time Population Survey covers adults 18 to 64. Pew covers all adults, and those 65 and older use chatbots far less (23%), which pulls the total down. Teens are surveyed separately and use them more (64%).
The wording over time. Pew's 2024 figure of a third was asked only of adults who had heard of chatbots, and its ChatGPT question changed in 2026. So the rise from a third to half is real in direction, but the exact gain is not known.
For one number, use Pew's 49% and say it is US adults in February 2026.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Half of American adults now use an AI chatbot, and a quarter use one every day. In 2024 the share was about a third, though that question was worded differently.
The split by age is sharp. Two thirds of adults under 30 use chatbots, and a third of those under 50 use them daily. Among those 65 and older, fewer than one in four use them at all. Teens are close to young adults: 64% use them, and Black and Hispanic teens are more likely than White teens to use them daily.
Searching is the main use. 42% of all adults use chatbots to look things up, more than for work, fun or images. For businesses, that means customers may meet your brand in a chatbot answer before they visit your site, so the facts on your pages need to be clear and current.
Personal uses are smaller but not rare: 20% use chatbots for medical advice and 10% for emotional support.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Pew Research Center
- Adults
- American Trends Panel, 5,119 US adults, 17-23 Feb 2026, weighted to the US adult population; report "Americans and AI 2026" and its age chapter, 17 Jun 2026
- Teens
- 1,458 US teens 13 to 17, online through Ipsos, 25 Sep-9 Oct 2025; report "Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025", 9 Dec 2025
- Definition
- Ever use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot; daily means about once a day or more
- Other surveys
- Real-Time Population Survey (adults 18 to 64), via the St. Louis Fed post of 1 Sep 2026 and the Fed FEDS Note of 3 Apr 2026
- Checked at source
- 23 Oct 2026 (repo stats); 31 Oct 2026, Pew's 2026 report and age chapter, the Pew teens report and the St. Louis Fed post
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Pew Research Center Survey
- Real-Time Population Survey: Generative AI Adoption Tracker (FRED), Bick, Blandin and Deming, via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) Survey
- Federal Reserve Board publications (SHED report, FEDS Notes, speeches), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Official data
Cite this page
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Which AI chatbot do Americans use most?
ChatGPT: 44% of US adults use it, then Gemini (24%), Copilot (17%), Meta AI (14%), Grok (8%) and Claude (6%), per Pew's February 2026 survey.
Do teens use AI chatbots more than adults?
More than adults overall: 64% of US teens 13 to 17 used them in autumn 2025, against 49% of all adults in February 2026. Adults 18 to 29 are about the same, at 66%.
What do people use AI chatbots for?
Mostly to search for information (42% of US adults), then work tasks (38% of employed adults), fun (25%) and creating images or videos (24%). Only 4% use them for companionship.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Pew Research Center, Bick, Blandin and Deming, via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System). Free to cite with a link to this page.