The majority of 2025 startups ran on AI from day one. Here's what the smart ones figured out that the rest missed.

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A new Gusto survey found that 60% of people who started a business in 2025 used AI to set it up. That's the majority. AI at startup isn't a differentiator anymore. It's table stakes, the same way having a website was table stakes in 2005.

But here's what the data actually shows, and why it matters: the owners getting real results aren't using AI alone. They're combining it with human contractors, non-AI productivity tools, and old-fashioned judgment. A solopreneur named Ryan West (his company is CodexWest) uses AI for policy drafts, finance workflows, and sourcing contractors, then hands the real work to humans. AI handles the scaffolding. People do the rest.

The trap a lot of new owners fall into is treating AI like a silver bullet. Automate everything, trust the output, skip the review. That's where the wheels come off. The owners winning right now treat AI like a very fast first draft, not a finished product. Professional services firms are adopting it fastest, which makes sense. Writing a contract or a proposal is exactly where AI saves hours. Running a kitchen or managing a job site is where it still mostly gets in the way.

Bottom line: if you haven't started using AI in your operations, you're already behind the majority of people who opened a business this year. If you are using it but haven't thought hard about where humans need to stay in the loop, that's the next problem to solve.

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Meanwhile, Washington just inserted itself into who gets the next big AI model first. OpenAI is rolling out GPT-5.6 as a limited preview to enterprise customers, but the Trump administration is approving access on a customer-by-customer basis. A broader rollout is expected a couple of weeks after that initial wave.

This is new. For most of AI's short commercial history, model access was a business decision, not a policy decision. Now it's both. The practical impact for most small owners right now is minimal. You'll get GPT-5.6 when the general rollout hits. But this sets a precedent worth watching. Federal oversight of which businesses get access to which AI tools, and when, is now a real variable in planning. If your competitors are enterprises with Washington relationships, they may get meaningful head starts on frontier models. That gap could matter.

For now, file it under "things to track," not "things to panic about." But don't ignore it either.

New Tools

Nanonets: Pulls data automatically from invoices, purchase orders, and insurance forms using AI, then connects to your existing workflows. Built for any business drowning in paper.

Honestly: Scans TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, and X for real conversations about your product, verifies authenticity, and surfaces the key insights fast. Good for consumer product or service owners who want unfiltered feedback without hours of manual scrolling.

Goldfish: Lives on your Mac and privately remembers what you've been working on. Hit Option in any text field and it drafts replies, summarizes threads, or rewrites copy without you having to explain the context every time. Useful for solo operators who are tired of re-explaining themselves to AI tools.

More Headlines

OpenAI signed a multi-year deal with Getty Images, meaning licensed photos now appear in ChatGPT and OpenAI search results. If you're using ChatGPT to surface images, the legal landscape around those visuals just got more complicated.

Anthropic's Mythos model cracked real vulnerabilities in classified U.S. government systems in hours during sanctioned red-team tests. If frontier AI can do that to federal infrastructure, your small business systems are a much easier target.

The Daily Herald put together a practical guide for small owners on evaluating AI without letting it become a distraction. Good framing if you're still figuring out where to start.

The Canadian government announced an investment in a Toronto AI company that helps businesses connect with diverse markets.

-Scott

SmartOwner is published (almost) daily by the team at DigitalTreehouse. Want AI consulting or automations for your business? Reply to this email.