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# US federal AI spending reached $20.4B over 2013–2024, $15.9B of it through grants
- URL: https://aiadoption.org/data/us-public-ai-spending-cumulative/
- Published: 2026-10-19T16:45:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T06:03:38.000Z
- Description: US federal agencies spent $20.4B on AI-related grants, contracts and other transaction agreements from 2013 to 2024. Grants made up $15.9B, 78% of the total.
- Author: Manu
- Tags: Data, AI Regulation, AI in the US, #chart, #ai-index-2026, #hub-regulation, #country-us, #industry-government

$20.4B

▲ 40% vs 2023

cumulative US federal spending on AI, 2013–2024

20132024

## What the chart shows

Cumulative US federal spending on AI-related awards reached $20.4 billion over 2013–2024: $15.9 billion in grants, $3.9 billion in contracts and $0.65 billion in other transaction agreements (OTAs).

Most of it is recent. The cumulative total stood at $3.3 billion at the end of 2020, so about 84% was spent in 2021–2024, mostly through grants. The AI Index counts only money obligated after AI-related activity first appears in an award.

## Key numbers

| Measure          | Value   |
| ---------------- | ------- |
| Total, 2013–2024 | $20.44B |
| Grants           | $15.88B |
| Contracts        | $3.91B  |
| OTAs             | $0.65B  |
| Total, 2013–2020 | $3.28B  |

## How to read it

- Nominal US dollars: the AI Index does not say the figures are adjusted for inflation.
- Awards are classed as AI-related by keyword search and text models over federal contract and grant records (FPDS and USAspending). OTAs are other transaction agreements, a federal award type outside standard contract rules.
- The AI Index text gives the total as about $20.5B; the data adds up to $20.4B, which we use.

**Source:** [AI Index](https://aiadoption.org/sources/#ai-index), 2026, via the AI Index Report 2026 (Stanford HAI), figure 8.5.1: *Cumulative public spending on AI in the United States, 2013–24*. Chart and text by AI Adoption.  
Numbers checked against the published data on 20 October 2026.  
[Download the data (CSV)](https://charts.aiadoption.org/ai-index/csv/us-public-ai-spending-cumulative.csv?ref=aiadoption.org) · [Cite this chart](#source)