As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves at an unprecedented pace, policymakers are actively engaging with tech industry giants to understand and regulate AI. Over the past couple of weeks, bipartisan leaders in Congress privately hosted a dinner with OpenAI’s CEO, who subsequently made waves in congressional testimony the following day, calling for robust regulation of super-intelligent AIs. This followed a meeting at the White House led by Vice President Harris with executives from tech giants to discuss AI’s potential impact on society. This landmark appeal for regulatory action highlights the significance of AI and the pressing need for comprehensive guidelines to shape its future.
AI is clearly a priority for policymakers, with more than 300 pending legislative proposals at the state and federal levels. Yet, in a rush to understand and shape rules for this complex and evolving technology, a vital voice is being overlooked — that of small businesses. Ignoring this key voice is a strategic and catastrophic misstep that could hinder our collective ability to build a safe, balanced, and secure AI-driven future.
Small businesses, specifically the entrepreneurs developing the application ecosystem (which we call the “app economy”), are more than just minor players. They are unique contributors— creators, innovators, and disruptors—acting as a collective economic accelerant. Their role in serving local markets and their ability to scale enhances commercial diversity and resilience. In the future, increasingly driven by AI, their success or failure will directly and substantially shape our broader fiscal health.
President Biden recently stated, “Small businesses are the engines of our economy and the hearts of our communities.” He’s right. The app economy’s success is proof, and notably, many small businesses are already outpacing their larger counterparts in the adoption and innovative application of AI. But it’s not enough to acknowledge their role. The President needs to match this observation with action and prioritize American small business innovator interests in the government’s AI efforts. Their proactive approach to AI indicates not just their potential, but their readiness to lead in this new technological landscape.
ACT | The App Association’s recent State of the App Economy underscores the impressive influence of the developer-driven ecosystem. Our industry has generated six million jobs across the country, accommodating a diverse range of skill sets — from coding engineers to marketing and sales executives as well as blue-collar workers. In 2022 alone, the app economy experienced 6 percent job growth and boasted 500,000 job postings. With an average annual salary of almost $121,000, these roles not only outnumbered but also financially outperformed the corresponding national average. Despite this significant contribution by everyday entrepreneurs, policymakers instead choose to heed the counsel of the largest corporations.
Policy formation is not just about mitigating risk but ushering in opportunity. AI presents openings for individuals and small businesses to be faster, smarter, and better. Today, small businesses are already using AI to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and revolutionize customer experiences. Yet AI undoubtedly raises new challenges that need to be acknowledged and addressed, ideally through a risk-based approach that scales to potential harms.
Ultimately, the small business benefits of AI can only work if AI policies consider the unique challenges and resource constraints that small businesses face. Today, our members in healthcare use AI to provide clinical decision support for doctors around the country, improving the lives of both care providers and patients while shortening the time between identifying conditions and administering treatments for all patients. Our members are developing HR apps using AI to understand the unique needs of all employees and provide resources and tools for those with dyslexia and ADHD to be supported in the workplace. They use AI chatbots to help people manage and treat their pain without the use of opioids, they train AI engines with larger and more diverse data sets to help address bias, and they use AI in their own businesses to better serve their clients, create content, and support their workforce. With the small business innovator perspective at heart, policymakers can avoid creating a harmful disconnect between policy intentions and real-world outcomes for American entrepreneurs.
As we chart the course of AI policy, policymakers must actively and regularly engage with small businesses and keep their interests at heart in legislation, executive action, and regulatory-level policy changes. Policymakers must conduct a series of focused listening sessions with small business owners to ensure that needed AI guidelines don’t limit innovators who need resources and tools to remain competitive. Our members are ready and able to participate.
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new guidance addressing AI that continues to learn after being deployed in the field, a major step forward for the responsible use of AI, which will improve countless patient outcomes, save costs, and positively effect the caregiver experience. Our small business members collaborated with the FDA for years to pave the way to this point based on the shared goal of balancing the need for health AI innovation with the need to mitigate risks.
As the App Association has proven, the relationship between AI policy and small businesses is mutually beneficial and intertwined. While small businesses rely on AI to enhance their operations and competitiveness, shaping AI policy equally requires their insights and experiences. Small businesses, including the vital app developer community, cannot just be passive subjects to AI regulations but active contributors in molding our collective AI future. This is not solely about giving them a competitive advantage; it is about fostering an AI-driven future that is democratic, inclusive, and drives robust economic growth.
Unfortunately, as evidenced by recent high-profile dinners and meetings, the story of AI so far in Washington has just been about technology giants. But that approach is easy and shallow. The promise of AI lies within local app developers, small tech firms, and digital entrepreneurs. It is about ensuring we all can lead in the AI-driven future, not just survive. It is about shaping an AI future that benefits all, not just a select few.