- November 13, 2026
- By Gregory Muraski
Research from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is helping shape understanding of how artificial intelligence is affecting the state of Maryland’s economy and job market. The research serves as a key data source for the state comptroller’s new Maryland AI Economic Impact Tracker dashboard.
To monitor the wide-ranging impact of AI, state officials are using data from the UMD-LinkUp AI Maps project, an innovative tracking tool led by Professor Anil K. Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, in partnership with job listings platform LinkUp and Outrigger Group.
The UMD-LinkUp project uses advanced large language models to classify and track monthly counts of technical AI job postings across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Built on an initial training set of 200,000 manually coded job listings, the platform analyzes job postings dating back to Jan. 1, 2018.
Key metrics from UMD-LinkUp in the comptroller's October 2026 update include:
- Maryland recorded 3,600 unique AI job postings through September 2026 — a 79% increase compared to all of 2025, matching the national growth rate.
- Maryland currently ranks 19th nationally for overall AI job creation, while neighboring Virginia ranks sixth with 10,200 postings so far in 2026. D.C. recorded 4,100 postings (a 138% increase), and Pennsylvania reached 7,300 postings (a 90% increase).
- Across the United States, technical AI job postings totaled 273,000 through the first three quarters of 2026, led by California, New York, Washington, Texas and Illinois.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies in real time,” said Gupta. “By incorporating data from the UMD-LinkUp AI Maps Project, Maryland is taking a forward-looking approach to understanding where AI-driven jobs are emerging and how the technology is influencing the state's workforce and economic competitiveness.”
Also collaborating with Gupta on the project are Smith Professor Siva Viswanathan and Associate Professor Kunpeng Zhang and Ph.D. student Hanwen Shi.