D.C. tops country in per-capita AI use

Driving the news: D.C.'s usage of Claude — Anthropic's AI platform — is 3.82 times higher than expected based on its percentage of the nation's working-age population, per the report.

• Utah is the next-highest, at 3.78, then California at 2.13.
• Virginia (#5) and Maryland (#13) both crack the top 20, too.

Between the lines: D.C.'s high use of AI is likely due to the fact that it's a hub for white-collar work like writing and editing documents, an Anthropic spokesperson tells Axios.

• This checks out with the data: It's 2.69 times more common for D.C. users to go to Claude for help with writing-adjacent work.

Other prominent D.C. uses include legal assistance, academic research and business consulting.

The intrigue: D.C. users are also more likely to use Claude for job searches (1.87 times more common) and compiling applications and resumes (1.84 times), per the report.

• This comes as the region's white-collar job market sees stiff competition due to laid-off feds duking it out for jobs.

Yes, but: When looking solely at percentage of Claude usage by state, California leads with 25.3%.