66% of small businesses now use AI, U.S. Chamber report finds

On October 2, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published the fifth edition of its report on technology and small businesses. The headline: 66% of small businesses now use artificial intelligence, up from 23% in 2023. In three years, adoption has nearly tripled.

What happened

The report, produced by the Chamber's Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC), includes several figures that capture the moment well:

• 66% of small businesses use AI (23% in 2023).
• 47% say AI is creating jobs today, versus only 6% who say it's letting them reduce headcount.
• 95% of those using AI are training their staff to make the most of it.
• 41% already use six or more technology platforms, up 9 points from 2025.
• 84% plan to increase their use of technology over the next two to three years.
• 78% of those using these technologies say limiting access would slow their growth.

It also flags a concern: six in ten small businesses worry about higher legal and compliance costs from a patchwork of state privacy and AI laws.

What it means for your business

AI is no longer just for big companies. If two out of three small businesses already use it, the question isn't whether to adopt it, but where it adds real value in yours. And the report dispels a common fear: in the vast majority of cases it isn't used to cut staff, but to help the team do more.

The uses that pay off most for a small business tend to be the most practical ones:

• Customer service: answering common questions by chat or email around the clock.
• Marketing: drafting posts, emails and product descriptions.
• Admin work: sorting email, pulling data from invoices, summarizing meetings.
• Your website: forms that qualify leads, internal search, or assistants that guide customers.

Two words of caution. First, data: don't put sensitive customer information into tools without checking their privacy terms. Second, quality: AI-generated content needs human review, especially if it's published on your site (Google penalizes mass-produced content with no value).

What we recommend

1. Pick one specific process that eats your time every week, not "AI in general."
2. Start with existing tools before investing in custom development.
3. Measure the result: hours saved, faster replies or more leads. If you can't tell the difference, change course.
4. Train your team, as 95% of the businesses in the report do. The tool alone isn't enough.
5. Once a process works, integrate it into your systems (website, CRM, invoicing) so the savings stick.

In short

AI is now a routine tool for small businesses and, according to the Chamber, it's adding jobs rather than cutting them. What matters is starting with a concrete problem and measuring the outcome. If you'd like to see where it could help your business or your website, tell us about your case.