Senate bill seeks more AI support for SBA development centers

The legislation from Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is a companion to a House bill that passed out of committee late last year.

By Matt Bracken

January 8, 2026

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People walk past the headquarters of the Small Business Administration in the Southwest Federal Center area on March 24, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Small Business Administration-run development centers would be better equipped to serve their artificial intelligence-curious clients under a bipartisan Senate bill introduced Wednesday.

The AI for Mainstreet Act from Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would direct the SBA’s Small Business Development Centers to expand support and training on all things AI, including how to use the emerging technology to streamline business operations, improve cybersecurity, protect data and intellectual property, and improve planning for unforeseen events.

“As artificial intelligence becomes an essential workplace tool, small businesses should not be left behind,” Cantwell said in a press release. “This legislation will help provide guidance and training to thousands of Washington small businesses on how they can use AI to help their businesses grow and thrive.”

Young, who serves with Cantwell on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, added that the “bill will provide training, guidance, and support to ensure more American small businesses are equipped with the tools needed to compete in today’s evolving digital economy.”

The Senate bill has a companion in the House — led by Reps. Mark Alford, R-Mo., and Hillary Scholten, D-Mich. — that advanced out of committee last year but didn’t receive a vote before the full chamber.

Alford noted during a November markup that the legislation builds on an SBDC initiative known as the AI U Program, which is supported by Google and makes 1-on-1 coaching and other AI training resources available to small businesses.

Scholten led another bipartisan, AI-focused SBA bill last year that was also left waiting for a full House vote: the AI-WISE Act, which would direct the SBA administrator to create AI educational resources and learning modules to be hosted on an existing agency platform.

Cantwell, meanwhile, was the architect of the 2024 Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act, which would have required the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and disperse AI-related resources to small businesses. The legislation advanced out of committee but was never taken up by the full chamber.