The Chamber’s Free Enterprise Opportunity Tour Rolls into Detroit with Groundbreaking New Data on How AI is Creating Small Business Jobs

DETROIT, MI - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Free Enterprise Express and Opportunity Tour continues with a stop in Detroit, where Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the Chamber, will unveil a groundbreaking new study alongside the Detroit Regional Chamber that reveals that small businesses are using artificial intelligence (AI) to grow their businesses.

The report, led by the U.S. Chamber's Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC), finds that four times as many small businesses report that AI is right now creating permanent jobs in their firm (25%) than those that report it is allowing them to reduce headcount (6%). Further, small businesses that use AI are 10% more likely to have added headcount in the past year compared to their peers that are not using AI.

These findings run directly counter to the prevailing narrative about AI - and it helps explain why the United States is seeing record numbers of new businesses formed.

The data comes from the Chamber's fifth annual Empowering Small Business report, which tracks the role of technology and AI in the small business economy. AI adoption among small businesses has surged from just 23% in 2023 to 66% today - nearly tripling in three years - as owners deploy the technology for marketing, customer service, and daily workflow management.

"The four-to-one advantage in job creation over job reductions turns the conventional wisdom about AI on its head," said Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "For small businesses, AI is creating opportunity and it's exactly the kind of real-world progress the Free Enterprise Express Opportunity Tour is highlighting across the country. Policymakers should take this evidence seriously and avoid restricting the tools that are helping Main Street businesses hire, compete, and grow."

The report's findings have implications for millions of Americans, since half of private sector workers work for an employer with fewer than 250 employees. For these employees, this report is an early and concrete signal that AI is contributing to job growth at the firms where most of the country earns a living.

The report also identifies risks that come with constraints on AI. Seventy-eight percent of small businesses expressed that limiting their access to AI tools would inhibit their ability to grow-with a majority identifying complexities in the regulatory environment as a concern.

"This data defies the headlines: AI is adding jobs, growing the economy, and creating more opportunities than ever for working Americans," said Jordan Crenshaw, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber's Technology Engagement Center. "Entrepreneurs who use AI are outperforming their peers who are not in hiring, sales, and profits. This report should reshape how we think about this technology and its role in American prosperity. Getting AI policy right means building a national framework that supports continued growth for those businesses while giving workers and the public the accountability they deserve."

Earlier this week, the Chamber's Q3 2026 Small Business Index, sponsored by Justworks, found that seven in ten small businesses reported good business health. Overall, the Index improved to 70.5, though small business owners remain cautious due to inflation and cost concerns. That makes AI adoption even more crucial as small businesses seek to become more efficient and grow.

To view the full findings and methodology of the Empowering Small Business report, please visit the report here.

The national Free Enterprise Express Opportunity Tour is a six-week trip through 20 states and more than 50 events to make the case for free enterprise in communities across America and push back against growing support for government-directed economic policies that threaten economic freedom, opportunity, innovation, and growth.    

The Opportunity Tour is a part of the U.S. Chamber's New Fight for Free Enterprise initiative, a multi-year strategic effort to defend, protect, and promote free enterprise.  

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About the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business organization representing companies of all sizes across every sector of the economy. Our members range from the small businesses and local chambers of commerce that line the Main Streets of America to leading industry associations and large corporations. For more than 114 years, we have advocated for pro-business policies that help businesses create jobs and grow our economy.