Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on 2 September that artificial intelligence is enabling small businesses to operate with significantly fewer employees and could trigger a sweeping start-up boom across the United States, while sharply criticising AI companies for failing to communicate the technology's benefits to ordinary Americans.

The Start-Up Signal

Speaking to reporters after the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, Bessent said the government was already observing early signs of the trend. 'We are seeing AI result in a massive increase in small business start-ups, because you're seeing the one, the two, the three-person company that would have taken critical mass, 15 or 20 people,' he said. He framed these new ventures not as a Silicon Valley phenomenon but as a Main Street development — a direct broadening of the small-business economy.

A Sharp Rebuke for AI Companies

Bessent reserved pointed criticism for AI developers and data centre operators, arguing they had done a 'horrendous job' of explaining themselves to the public. 'The fact is that this can be transformative,' he said, adding: 'I think we need a big reset on this.' He said companies would need to persuade Americans that the financial and productivity gains from AI would not accrue only to a narrow elite. 'They are going to have to convince the American people that all the benefits will not accrue to a small group,' he warned. This comes amid growing public unease over rapid data centre construction and the pace of AI-driven change more broadly.

G20 Discussions and Real-World Integration

The G20 session in Asheville deliberately included businesses already deploying AI — pharmaceutical companies, farm equipment manufacturers, and industrial firms — rather than AI developers or academics. Bessent said those companies reported that AI was increasing employment within their operations, though he did not provide specific figures or name the participating businesses. 'What we wanted to bring in were real companies... and they told us about how they were integrating it into their supply chains,' he said.

Productivity Gains and Inflation

Bessent also predicted that the heavy capital expenditure currently flowing into AI infrastructure would eventually translate into measurable productivity gains and help reduce inflationary pressure. 'At a point, as we heard from our private sector partners yesterday, this CapEx will turn into productivity, and that will be extremely disinflationary,' he said. He estimated that visible benefits could emerge within the next six months.

G20 Chair's Statement

The G20 chair's statement described AI as a general-purpose technology with the potential for profound effects on the global economy, noting that countries embracing its responsible development would likely set the pace of global growth in coming years. The statement also flagged potential financial and sector-specific risks, calling for stronger cyber resilience and regulatory frameworks that balance financial stability with innovation.