Federal Reserve highlights AI uptake by U.S. small businesses in 2025 credit survey

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Fed: AI in small business survey

Highlights

Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey finds nearly half of small employer firms use AI, with 71 percent reporting improved productivity.
The survey reiterates that businesses with fewer than 500 employees represent 99.9 percent of U.S. firms and have contributed 61 percent of net new jobs since 1995.
Data from the survey inform policymakers on credit access, debt demand, and operational pressures among small businesses, influencing broader economic and financial stability policies.

2025 survey points to growing AI use

As reported by the Federal Reserve Board, Cook uses her remarks at the State of Small Business Symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland to spotlight results from the Federal Reserve's Small Business Credit Survey, which marks 10 years since it expanded from a four-Bank regional effort into a nationwide systemwide project.

The full 2025 survey is due to be presented later in the day, but Cook highlights one early finding on technology adoption. Nearly half of small employer firms report using artificial intelligence in some capacity, and 71 percent of those firms say the technology has raised productivity.

Cook says the data suggest small businesses are proving adaptable and willing to use new tools to manage and expand their operations. She also says the finding challenges the conventional view that large companies hold the main advantage in deploying AI.

Implications for credit access and economic policy

Cook frames the survey as a key source of information for policymakers and researchers because businesses with fewer than 500 employees account for 99.9 percent of U.S. firms and have generated 61 percent of net new jobs since 1995.

She says the survey helps capture financing needs, debt demand and operational pressures that are often not directly visible in other economic statistics or administrative datasets. The data also offer insight into which firms obtain credit, how they apply, why they are rejected and what they plan to do next.

Cook says access to credit remains critical to helping small firms launch, grow, hire workers, support innovation and strengthen communities. She adds that the Federal Reserve's pursuit of maximum employment and stable prices helps create the broader conditions in which small businesses can thrive.

In our earlier article on the U.S. Treasury’s AI Innovation Series roundtables, we covered how officials and industry participants discussed scaling AI in financial services while protecting resilience, trust, and governance. We also highlighted calls for clearer, more harmonized regulatory frameworks so innovation can expand without undermining financial stability and competitiveness.

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