To amend the Small Business Act to require small business development centers to assist small business concerns with the use of artificial intelligence, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedAdditional sponsors: Mr. Vindman, Mr. Harder of California, and Mr. …
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Alford (for himself and Ms. Scholten) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The AI for Main Street Act adds artificial intelligence assistance to the services that Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) must provide. SBDCs will be required to help small businesses evaluate AI tools, provide training on AI best practices, and conduct outreach about AI adoption—all without any new federal funding.
Who Benefits and How
Small businesses gain free access to AI guidance through their local SBDCs, learning how to use AI to improve operations, protect data, enhance cybersecurity, comply with regulations, and build customer trust.
Small Business Development Centers receive an expanded mission that keeps them relevant in the AI era and may attract more small business clients seeking technology guidance.
AI technology providers benefit from increased AI adoption among small businesses as SBDCs promote and explain AI tools.
Who Bears the Burden and How
SBDCs must absorb new responsibilities for AI training and outreach without additional funding—the bill explicitly states "no additional amounts are authorized" (CUTGO compliance).
SBDC staff must develop AI expertise to fulfill the new mandate, potentially requiring self-funded professional development.
Key Provisions
- Adds AI assistance to the list of required SBDC services alongside existing offerings like succession planning and patent training
- Specifies AI guidance topics including best practices, data/IP protection, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and customer trust
- Requires outreach to small businesses about AI opportunities
- Zero new appropriations (CUTGO compliant)—SBDCs must provide AI services within existing budgets
- Uses existing AI definition from the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to provide guidance, training, and outreach to small businesses on adopting artificial intelligence for operations, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and customer trust.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Leverage existing SBDC infrastructure to help Main Street businesses adopt AI without requiring new appropriations (CUTGO compliant)"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Small businesses seeking to adopt AI
- Small Business Development Centers (expanded mission)
- AI technology vendors (increased small business customers)
- Small business cybersecurity (improved through AI guidance)
Likely Burden Bearers
- SBDCs (new training and outreach responsibilities without new funding)
- SBDC staff (must develop AI expertise)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Has the meaning given in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology