The news: US digital ad spend on ad creative that uses terms related to AI grew 48.3% YoY between January and May, reaching $1.3 billion, per SensorTower’s 2026 State of AI report. Impressions increased 46.1% YoY to 166.6 billion.

This trend is consistent across major sectors.

• Health and wellness ad spend on AI-related creative skyrocketed 165% YoY.
• Financial services, business and industrials, and media and entertainment categories boosted that spending at least 60% YoY.

What it means: As brands race to associate themselves with AI, they’re using related messaging to signal innovation and stand out in crowded categories.

• The surge in AI-related ad spending suggests marketers see AI as a consumer-facing value proposition rather than a behind-the-scenes capability.
• As consumers become more familiar with AI’s benefits and applications, brands are adjusting their creative to match. That’s a departure from early AI marketing, which was more concentrated among software and tech companies.

The data also shows how AI is following a familiar cycle for adoption: from an experimental idea to a category-wide marketing claim and, eventually, to a baseline expectation.

Implications for brands: As more brands adopt AI messaging, the tactic could lose power. What currently helps brands stand out may eventually become a marketing standard and dilute messaging, forcing marketers to clearly communicate tangible consumer benefits.

Value propositions for solutions and products should be clearly emphasized and, even though AI-related messaging is delivering enough engagement to justify budget increases and resource allocation, brands should connect AI claims to customer outcomes to ensure consumers understand how AI is useful to them.

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