OpenAI Partners with America’s SBDC to Train Small Business Advisors on AI

OpenAI has announced a partnership with America’s SBDC, the national network of small business development centers, to help small businesses integrate AI into their operations. The initial phase focuses on training approximately 150 SBDC advisors through the OpenAI Academy’s Community Trainer Program, with the goal of reaching at least 1,000 small businesses via in-person training and one-on-one advising.

Training and Local Workshops

The pilot combines advisor credentialing with hands-on local workshops. Advisors will undergo a training pathway focused on helping owners choose starting points, use AI responsibly, and assess business impact. Additionally, Academy Workshops modeled on a three-hour hands-on format will be hosted at participating networks, allowing owners to test ChatGPT on real business tasks and leave with actionable plans.

Usage Data and Report Findings

Alongside the partnership, OpenAI released a report titled Small Businesses, Bigger Capabilities. The report reveals that in the week of September 9-15, approximately 4 million employees at companies with fewer than 500 people used OpenAI’s tools. Notably, nearly one in five of these users worked at businesses with fewer than 10 employees. In August, agentic output tokens for products like ChatGPT Work and Codex accounted for two-thirds of all small business output tokens, up from one-third in April 2026.

Practical Applications

The report highlights that small businesses are disproportionately using AI for finance and accounting, supply chain, legal and compliance, and marketing, areas where they often lack dedicated specialists. Case studies include restaurant owners using ChatGPT Work for competitive price analysis and a two-person startup leveraging Codex for product development and customer support.