APEX

THE POWER LAW OF CONSUMER AI

Attention concentrates. Spend concentrates harder. This is a single-file autopsy of who actually pays for consumer AI — and how violently the distribution skews.

$0TOP-1% SPENDERS — AVG / MO

0OF TOTAL SPEND THEY CARRY

0STATES LED BY OPENAI

0CLAUDE → $100+/MO MAX

SCROLL TO DESCEND

TOP 1% AVG $903/MO — CARRYING 19.5% OF ALL SPEND /// MEDIAN SPENDER $25/MO /// OPENAI LEADS MERCHANT SPEND IN 47 STATES /// ANTHROPIC HOLDS CA · MA · MT · DC /// CLAUDE MAX CONVERSION 7.3% /// INSTINCT AGENT USERS SPEND $1,300/MO — $1B+ ANNUALIZED /// CLAUDE LAUNCHES 65.8% WORK / GEMINI 48.6% CONSUMER /// TOP 1% AVG $903/MO — CARRYING 19.5% OF ALL SPEND /// MEDIAN SPENDER $25/MO /// OPENAI LEADS MERCHANT SPEND IN 47 STATES /// ANTHROPIC HOLDS CA · MA · MT · DC /// CLAUDE MAX CONVERSION 7.3% /// INSTINCT AGENT USERS SPEND $1,300/MO — $1B+ ANNUALIZED /// CLAUDE LAUNCHES 65.8% WORK / GEMINI 48.6% CONSUMER ///

SCN.01 // SPEND CONCENTRATION

THE MONOLITH

One percent of spenders. One fifth of the money. The median user is a rounding error at the base of the column.

$903

AVG MONTHLY SPEND — TOP 1% OF AI SPENDERS

$25

AVG MONTHLY SPEND — THE MEDIAN SPENDER

1% → 19.5%

THE TOP 1% CARRIES NEARLY A FIFTH OF ALL CONSUMER AI SPEND

DESCEND

SCN.02 // MERCHANT SPEND GEOGRAPHY

THE STATE DIVIDE

OpenAI owns the map — 47 of 51 jurisdictions. Anthropic holds four enclaves where spend density runs highest.

OPENAI LED — 47 / 51 ANTHROPIC ENCLAVE — 4 / 51

// AWAITING SELECTION

HOVER A JURISDICTION

THE CARTOGRAM RESPONDS TO YOUR CURSOR

Each tile is one U.S. state or district, positioned by approximate geography. Merchant spend leadership determines its classification.

MERCHANT SPEND LEADER BY U.S. STATE — GEOGRAPHIC CARTOGRAM, NOT TO SCALE.

SCN.03 // PREMIUM TIER CONVERSION

THE TIER PRISM

Every model has subscribers. Almost none convert them to $100+/mo. Claude converts 6.6× more of its base than ChatGPT.

CLAUDEMAX — $100+/MO

0.0%

GOOGLEULTRA PLAN

0.0%

CHATGPTPRO PLAN

0.0%

0%2%4%6%8% OF SUBSCRIBERS

CONVERSION INEQUALITY — CLAUDE MAX PULLS 6.6× CHATGPT PRO · 5.6× GOOGLE ULTRA

SCN.04 // INSTINCT — IMESSAGE AGENT

AGENT VELOCITY

Agents don't browse. They transact — inside a chat window, at a run-rate the storefront era never reached.

$0 AVERAGE MONTHLY SPEND — PER INSTINCT USER

$0 ANNUALIZED TRANSACTION VOLUME

SCN.05 // WHERE THE BUILDS GO

LAUNCH DIVERGENCE

Claude ships for work. Gemini ships for the feed. Same industry — opposite gravity.

CLAUDE

OF LAUNCHES SHIP AS WORK TOOLS

REMAINING 34.2% → CONSUMER / OTHER

GEMINI

OF LAUNCHES SHIP AS CONSUMER FEATURES

REMAINING 51.4% → WORK / OTHER

SAME INDUSTRY — OPPOSITE GRAVITY