American AI Token Usage
Premium AI Still Gets Used
American models in OpenRouter's top ten averaged $9.20 per million output tokens. Despite their premium, five of the most-used models were American.
American AI Token Usage
The AI Token Usage Gap
America is home to the labs that started the AI arms race. Yet in March 2026, American models in OpenRouter's top ten processed only 40.19% of the tokens.
American AI Token Usage
America's Concentrated AI Market
Anthropic – creator of Claude – led American AI labs in tokens processed in March 2026. The gap between the three labs is 32 percentage points.
American AI Token Usage
America's Fastest-Growing Model
In March 2026, Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 grew token usage 352% on OpenRouter. Only one model grew faster – Step 3.5 Flash (Free) from China.
American AI Token Usage
America's Most-Used AI Models
In March 2026, five American models in OpenRouter's top ten processed 16.62 trillion tokens. Chinese models in the top ten processed 49% more.