According to Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute report “Global AI Adoption in 2025 — A Widening Digital Divide”, in the second half of 2025 the use of generative artificial intelligence worldwide increased again. The report uses an indicator called “AI diffusion”: this is the share of people who used a generative AI product during a certain period; it relies on Microsoft telemetry and is then adjusted based on OS/device share, internet coverage, and population size.
The report’s most important conclusion is one: there is growth, but it is not distributed equally. In the second half of 2025, global generative AI usage reached 16.3% (it was 15.1% in the first half). At the same time, the share in the “Global North” rose to 24.7%, while in the “Global South” it remained at 14.1%. In other words, the gap continues to widen.
Who the leaders are and why they are ahead
At the top of the ranking are countries where digital infrastructure, government policy, and people’s skills “work” together. The report notes that by the end of 2025, the UAE took first place in the share of generative AI usage among the working-age population — 64.0%. Second place went to Singapore (60.9%), and third to Norway (46.4%).
The top-10 is presented as follows:
UAE — 64.0%
Singapore — 60.9%
Norway — 46.4%
Ireland — 44.6%
France — 44.0%
Spain — 41.8%
New Zealand — 40.5%
Netherlands — 38.9%
United Kingdom — 38.9%
Qatar — 38.3%
Interestingly, a large economy does not “automatically” rise to the top. For example, even though the United States is a leader in infrastructure and model development, the report notes that it ranks only 24th in AI usage, with working-age usage at 28.3%.
South Korea, meanwhile, is highlighted as the country that made the biggest “jump” in the second half of 2025: it moved up from 25th to 18th place, and it is emphasized that the share exceeded 30%.
What the numbers say about Uzbekistan
Now the part that concerns us: some local and international media, citing this Microsoft report, write that by the end of 2025 the share of active generative AI users in Uzbekistan was 6.3%. According to them, the growth is also not large: within half a year it increased from 5.7% to 6.3%.
In interpretations of these data, Uzbekistan is also mentioned among countries close to the “bottom ten”, and some sources cite that it is noted in a low-indicator group together with countries such as Cuba, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Cambodia.
To be honest, there is a bitter truth here: while AI is becoming an “ordinary tool” in the world, here it still remains for many an “interesting toy” or something entirely unfamiliar. The AI train is leaving, and we are still looking for the ticket.
What should be done and what to expect in 2026
The overall tone of the report points to this: mass AI usage depends not only on having internet access, but on three factors:
digital infrastructure and convenient services,
AI literacy of the population (simple, practical skills),
real adoption by the state and business (schools, workplaces, services).
For Uzbekistan, the fastest path to results in 2026 is to popularize AI not as a “fashion”, but as a “tool”: in education (an assistant for teachers), in office work (text, spreadsheets, reports), in services (requests, search, consulting). If AI speeds up work by 10–15 minutes every day, people will use it voluntarily — there is no need to force it.
The conclusion is simple: the ranking is not a verdict, it is a signal. Being low today does not mean staying low tomorrow. But if action is delayed, the gap will only grow. 2026 should not be the year of “let’s just look at AI”, but the year of “let’s put it to work”.
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