Company spending on AI flatlined over late summer even as token volumes rose, according to Ramp data reported by TechCrunch. Token spend grew only 1.5% across August and September, after rising 42% in July from the month before.
Ramp: AI usage keeps rising, spending has flattened
Ramp's lead economist Ara Kharazian told TechCrunch that the slowdown isn't a demand problem, since AI volumes are still up, and pointed to price cuts and competition instead. Median firms on Ramp spend $12 to $15 per employee per month on AI, and the top 10% spend $600 to $1,000. October picked up again, with token spend up 8.9% from 23 September to 23 October.
Why it matters: Kharazian calls it a buyer's market. Ask your AI vendors for current prices, and check whether a cheaper model can handle your simpler tasks.
OpenAI reportedly raises $11bn at a $1.25 trillion valuation
Bloomberg reported on Friday that OpenAI has raised $11bn so far in a round that could total about $20bn, TechCrunch writes. In late September, Bloomberg had reported OpenAI was looking to raise $30bn. Bloomberg also reported that some potential buyers of Anthropic's IPO shares think its valuation could be as low as $1.1 trillion, against the $2 trillion investors were said to expect roughly a month ago.
Why it matters: OpenAI's round looks smaller than it first sought, and some of Anthropic's would-be IPO buyers value it lower than a month ago. Both labs need paying customers to back those prices.
Claude adds read-only Personal Finance in the US
Anthropic has started rolling out Personal Finance in Claude in beta on the Pro, Max and Ultra plans in the US. You connect accounts through Plaid, access is read-only, and Claude can point out charges that hit twice, unexpected fees or a bill that has crept up. Anthropic says chats in the Personal Finance hub aren't used to train its models.
Why it matters: it's US-only and for personal money for now, but the same pattern of read-only access to your accounts plus plain questions is one to watch for business bookkeeping too.
Amazon lets shoppers text Alexa to buy things
A small group of US customers can now text Alexa for Shopping to find products, build a cart, make purchases and get delivery updates, by invitation only for now. Amazon says texting will roll out to customers across the US in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: shoppers are getting used to buying through a chat thread. If you sell online, think about how a customer would order from you by text.
Five9 buys Level AI for about $325m
Contact-centre software company Five9 has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Level AI in a deal that values it at about $325m, paid in cash, according to its press release. Level AI runs on its own models built for customer conversations, which Five9 says cost less and respond faster than frontier models. Companies not yet ready to move their on-premises contact centre to the cloud, or already on another cloud platform, will be able to use the AI tools on their own.
Why it matters: you don't need to replace your support system to add AI to it.
Microsoft bundles Copilot with Business Central
From 1 January 2027, two new bundles pair Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials or Premium with Microsoft 365 Copilot Business for companies of up to 300 seats, Microsoft says. List prices are $95 and $125 per user per month in US dollars, which is $6 less than buying each separately. Local-currency pricing will come before release.
Why it matters: AI is arriving inside the accounting software small firms already pay for. Someone still has to set it up to do useful work.
Worth watching: whether Ramp's October rebound holds, and where Anthropic's IPO price lands.
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