A new study from the Brookings Institution has quantified a persistent transatlantic divide: American workers are far more likely to use artificial intelligence on the job than their European counterparts. The research, based on surveys of more than 5,000 people in the United States and six European countries—France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom—conducted in June 2025 and February 2026, points to a structural reason that goes beyond simple demographics.
At the company level, an estimated 34% of US firms have integrated AI into daily operations, compared with an EU-wide average of just 20%. Among individual workers, 43% of Americans say they use AI at work, versus 32% of Europeans. The gap is even starker in production-focused companies: 7% of US manufacturers have adopted AI, against only 4% in Europe.
Management Makes the Difference
The study’s authors argue that the single most important factor is how managers encourage—or fail to encourage—AI use. In the United States, 42% of workers who use AI said they had been both encouraged by their managers and provided with a specific internal tool. In France and Italy, that figure dropped to 17% and 16%, respectively. “Almost all of the US-Europe adoption gap is accounted for … once firm encouragement is taken into account,” the report states.
American companies also tend to reward and promote employees who adopt AI, creating a stronger incentive. Workers who received neither encouragement nor a dedicated tool, whether in the US or Europe, were far less likely to report using AI on the job.
Company size matters, too. In both the US and high-adoption European countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden, employees at firms with more than 250 staff were more likely to use AI than those at smaller enterprises. This suggests that larger organisations have more resources to invest in training and infrastructure.
Demographic factors explain about a third of the gap. Across all countries, AI uptake was higher among men, people under 45, and those with a university education. When the researchers adjusted for education, age, and sex, Sweden’s adoption rate nearly matched that of the United States—indicating that if Europe’s workforce demographics were identical to America’s, the gap would shrink considerably.
Field of work is a powerful predictor. More than half of respondents in computer or mathematical occupations said they use AI, compared with fewer than 27% in personal services and 33% in hotels and food services. This pattern held across all countries surveyed.
Separate data from Eurostat, released this week, reinforces the picture of structural barriers. European companies report lacking the technical expertise needed to implement AI, even when they recognise its potential benefits. They also cite concerns about data privacy, legal uncertainty, and cost as obstacles.
The findings come as European policymakers debate how to boost competitiveness in digital technologies. The European Commission has proposed a coordinated plan to increase AI investment and skills training, but the Brookings study suggests that changing management culture may be just as important as funding. Without active encouragement from the top, even the best tools may gather dust.
