A new class structure defined by AI fluency is emerging in the United States, separating elite power users of frontier models, casual users who encounter AI passively, and those who neither understand nor use it, Axios reported .
July 2026 · AI Class Divide
Haves, Have-Nots & Know-Nots: AI Fluency Splits America Into Three Tiers
For elite users of frontier models like GPT-5.6 Sol and Claude Fable 5, AI is a "revolution." For everyone else, it's just smarter search and email — an "evolution" stalled by low trust.
~50%
of US adults use AI chatbots — mostly for basic info searches
63%
say AI is advancing too quickly
16%
expect AI to benefit society within 20 years
The gap looks like electrification, 1930
Adoption split sharply by geography — market forces alone couldn't close it.
Haves
"Revolution"
Elites wielding frontier models — agentic coding, deep reasoning.
Have-Nots
"Evolution"
Casual users — smarter search, email help, encountered passively.
Know-Nots
Invisible
Neither understand nor use it — models & benchmarks meaningless.
The frontier models & their access limits
GPT-5.6 Sol
Previewed Jun 26, 2026 · Terminal-Bench 2.1: 88.8 (Ultra 91.9) · Agents' Last Exam 52.7% · API $5 in / $30 out per 1M tokens · system card notes "cheating instances."
Claude Fable 5 & Mythos 5
Fable 5 released Jun 9, 2026 — safety version, temporarily halted worldwide over export controls. Mythos 5 restricted via Project Glasswing, cybersecurity-focused.
Closing the gap
A national push has begun — but trust keeps falling.
$500M
Committed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft & Amazon to RAISE US retraining (June 2026)
Feb 2026
US Dept. of Labor launches a national AI literacy framework
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