The Delta
TRACKER counts of announced cutsSURVEY job ads and employer surveysRESEARCH published studiesPROJECTION official forecastsLIVE fetched on load
How to read this
  • Tracker counts are announcements. Some cuts are phased over years, scaled back, or never happen.
  • "AI" as a reason is employer-stated. It can be overstated (to sound modern) or understated (to avoid backlash).
  • Trackers disagree on AI-linked totals. Compare trends within one source rather than numbers across sources.
  • Exposure is not job loss. Exposed work can be complemented by AI as well as replaced.
  • Industry and country tags on companies were assigned by us for filtering, not by the source.

Research

Solo founders

AI tools can do work that used to need a team: writing, design, code, bookkeeping. One possible result is more people running businesses alone. This page tracks business-registration research and live World Bank self-employment figures as signals.

  • Registration growth does not tell us how many businesses employ staff.
  • Self-employment is high in low-income countries for very different reasons.
  • It is too early to say how much of the recent rise is caused by AI.

AI tools may make it easier to run a business alone. These figures track people working for themselves.

AI summary

Solo businesses taking off

~4.0M Americans earn their main income solo with >$100k revenue, up from ~2.5M.

US onlyRESEARCH
  • Solopreneurs earning over $1M more than doubled from 2023 to 2025; those past $5M/$10M nearly tripled.
  • The 2025 cohort is 30% more likely to reach $1M in year one than 2023, and 3× vs 2019.
  • Delaware incorporations growing +40% a year.
  • 5.7M US business applications in 2025.

New business registrations since 2017

Growth in new registrations by country.

RESEARCH

Self-employment by country

Self-employed as % of total employment, latest year available.

LIVE

In the news

Selected 28 Oct 2026

The Paypers

Stripe launches Treasury for agents to automate startup finances

Reporting on new agent-based finance tools also explores how solo founders use AI to operate with smaller teams.

VentureBeat · Contributor content

AI is creating a new generation of entrepreneurs: Here’s what comes next

A contributor perspective on how AI tools can lower the barriers to starting and running a business, from marketing to development.

Keep exploring

TrackerLayoffs →Announced job cuts, and how often employers now name AI as the reason.ProjectionCareers →Official 10-year projections for which occupations shrink and which grow.SurveyNew roles →Fast-growing job titles, demand for AI skills and the early-career squeeze.

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