The US Census Bureau is projecting roughly 29,700 new employer businesses will form each month over the next year, a 17% jump compared to last year’s forecasts. The biggest catalyst behind the surge isn’t tax cuts, deregulation, or some new crypto-native business model. It’s artificial intelligence.
AI-related business formations have climbed 45% since November 2022, which, if that date rings a bell, is exactly when OpenAI dropped ChatGPT on an unsuspecting world.
The numbers behind the AI business boom
The professional services sector is doing most of the heavy lifting here. That category alone is projected to exceed 5,000 new business formations per month, a record high and a 24% year-over-year increase.
Data from the Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey, covering December 2025 through May 2026, paints a broader picture of AI adoption across American businesses. Between 17% and 20% of firms are currently using AI in some capacity. That number jumps to 32% when weighted by employment, meaning the bigger the company, the more likely it is to have AI baked into its operations.
