You saw the $500 million headline, and now you want to know whether the Goldman Sachs Small Business AI Institute has a seat for a business like yours. The working answer is short. The way to apply is the 10,000 Small Businesses program, it is free, and you can check your fit against its published screen in about ten minutes.
Goldman Sachs announced the Institute on October 22, 2026, alongside a $500 million commitment for the next phase of 10,000 Small Businesses. The money is meant for education, access to capital and support services. It is not described as cash paid to each business, and acceptance and business results are not guaranteed.
Start with four facts about your company: your ownership role, how long you have operated, your revenue and your headcount. Then enter your location on the program's application page, because that decides which cohort you would join.
Key Takeaways
You need to be an owner or co-owner, in business at least two years, with $75,000 or more in revenue in one of the last two fiscal years and at least two employees including yourself.
The existing 10,000 Small Businesses program is free, runs 12 weeks at about 10 hours a week, and matches you to a national online or regional in-person cohort by location.
If you do not qualify, the SBA offers free online learning and free or low-cost counseling, and SBA partners list online AI workshops on October 26 and 27, 2026.
Find out in ten minutes whether your business qualifies
The program publishes a short screen, and each line is a plain yes or no. Pull up your last two years of numbers and your payroll count before you start. Revenue only has to reach the line in one of the last two fiscal years, so a slow recent year does not rule you out if the year before cleared it. The 10,000 Small Businesses program details list the screen, shown here in one place.
| Question | What the program asks |
|---|---|
| Your role | Owner or co-owner of the business |
| Time in business | Operated at least two years |
| Revenue | At least $75,000 in one of the last two fiscal years |
| Team size | At least two employees, including the owner |
| Cost | Free |
A business with only the owner on payroll does not reach the employee line, so the free SBA learning and counseling options are the better place to start. If you have a question about a nonprofit, reapplying or an unclear location, read the program's support page or contact the program administrator.
Apply to the right cohort the first time
Use the Apply Now page on 10ksbapply.com and enter your business location. The location decides whether you are matched to a national online cohort or a regional in-person cohort, and the dates that apply to you depend on it. Read the cohort details for your area before you fill in the form so you are not guessing at a deadline.
The program lists 12 weeks at about 10 hours a week. That is a real weekly commitment on top of running the business, so look at your calendar for the next three months before you apply.
Enter plain numbers in the numeric fields, such as 150000 instead of $150,000. If the form rejects an entry, the program's support page is the place to check. Use the official application page itself and not a third-party write-up, so your answers reach the program.
Applying does not guarantee a place. Plan the next quarter as if you may not get in, and treat acceptance as a bonus rather than a dependency.
See what the Institute adds on top of the program
Goldman describes three pillars for the Small Business AI Institute: hands-on AI education, research, and support for AI-enabled access to capital. The Institute page lists training, tools, research and capital-access support as the areas it covers. Do not count on a grant, loan, investment, software license or consulting engagement, because none is promised to every participant.
The October 22 press release names Anthropic, Google, Meta and OpenAI as partners. Its first activities include a learning series with Anthropic on applied AI, hands-on workshops for program alumni, research on small business AI use, Google AI Professional certificates with three months of Google AI Pro, Meta Muse for Small Business support, and OpenAI workshops through community-college partners.
The three months of Google AI Pro is tied to the Google certificate activity. It is not a permanent software benefit for every applicant.
The existing program already includes business education, a customized growth plan, mentorship, peer networking, alumni access and connections to capital providers. Its curriculum covers financial management, marketing, sales, leadership, teamwork and business planning.
For Institute dates, eligibility, pricing and curriculum, use the update sign-up on the Institute page. Your application can go through 10,000 Small Businesses in the meantime.
Spend nothing on the application and save your budget for the work after it
The application and the program are free, so there is no reason to pay anyone for access to either. Be cautious with any offer that sells a place in the program, a grant or a guaranteed acceptance, because none of those can be sold.
In a Goldman survey of more than 2,400 program graduates, 86 percent said they use AI, but only 15 percent said it is fully integrated into their core operations. Training is the start, and the harder part comes after it. Paid help starts to make sense when you reach one of these points:
- Choosing one workflow: Picking the single task, such as answering inquiries or following up on quotes, where AI would save the most time.
- Connecting your tools: Linking an assistant to your email, calendar or customer records, which our post on which accounts to connect to an AI assistant walks through.
- Protecting customer data: Deciding what an assistant may see, a step an AI use policy for a small business puts in writing.
- Setting human review: Naming who checks the output before a customer sees it.
- Measuring the result: Comparing hours or response times before and after.
For the build-out of connected workflows, our AI automation work picks up where training stops. The NIST AI Risk Management Framework is a voluntary guide to trustworthy AI use if you want a reference for the data and review rules.
Start learning for free if you do not qualify
If the screen does not fit yet, the SBA runs a free route that does not depend on any cohort. The SBA counseling page points to free online learning through the SBA Learning Platform and free or low-cost counseling through Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, Women's Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers. The SBA resource hubs page lists where to find a local partner.
| Option | What it offers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| SBA Learning Platform | Online small business courses | Free |
| SBDC, SCORE, Women's Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers | One-on-one counseling | Free or low cost |
| SCORE beginner AI workshop | Online workshop, October 26, 2026 | See the event page |
| AI data security workshop from the Louisiana SBDC at LSU Alexandria | Online workshop, October 27, 2026 | No cost |
The SBA's AI basics guide gives two habits worth adopting now. Start small, and have another person review what a free AI tool produces before you rely on it. These options do not include the Goldman partner programming or the 10,000 Small Businesses alumni network, but they cost little and start on your schedule.
If you are deciding whether a paid assistant is worth it yet, our post on whether free ChatGPT is enough for your business covers that choice.
Do you fit the 10,000 Small Businesses screen?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. Which description matches the revenue line in the published screen?
2. What does the $500 million commitment fund, according to Goldman Sachs?
3. A business has only the owner on payroll. What is the best first step?
Frequently Asked Questions About Goldman Sachs Small Business AI Institute
What did Goldman Sachs announce?
On October 22, 2026, Goldman Sachs announced a $500 million commitment to launch the Small Business AI Institute and support the next phase of 10,000 Small Businesses, with Anthropic, Google, Meta and OpenAI named as partners.
Is the program free?
The existing 10,000 Small Businesses program is free. For Institute pricing, use the update sign-up on the Institute page.
Who qualifies?
An owner or co-owner whose business has operated at least two years, earned at least $75,000 in one of the last two fiscal years, and has at least two employees including the owner.
Is it online or in person?
It depends on your location. You are matched to a national online cohort or a regional in-person cohort after you enter your business location, and the program lists 12 weeks at about 10 hours a week.
Is the $500 million a grant I can apply for?
Goldman describes it as a commitment to education, access to capital and support services. It does not promise a grant, loan, investment or software license to each participant.
What if I do not qualify?
Use SBA free online learning, free or low-cost counseling from SBDCs, SCORE, Women's Business Centers or Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and the online AI workshops SBA partners list for October 26 and 27, 2026.
Wrapping Up
The route into Goldman's AI push for small businesses is the 10,000 Small Businesses program. It is free, the screen asks for ownership, two years in business, $75,000 in revenue in one of the last two fiscal years and two employees including you, and your location sets the cohort. The $500 million funds education, access to capital and support services, not a check to each owner.
Spending ten minutes on the screen tells you where to go next, whether that is the application or the SBA's free learning and counseling. Either way, you finish this week knowing your next step, and you can sign up on the Institute page for the details still to come.
If you want help turning training into one working AI process, Web Leveling can help you choose a workflow, connect it to the tools you already use, and set the review rules around it. Our AI consulting work starts with a single task and measures the result. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us which task you want AI to take off your plate, and we will help you pick the first one.
Terms
Words used in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
10,000 Small Businesses. Goldman Sachs' free program of business education, mentorship and networking for qualifying small business owners.
Small Business AI Institute. Goldman Sachs' October 2026 initiative with hands-on AI education, research and support for AI-enabled access to capital.
Cohort. The group of owners who go through the program together, either online nationally or in person regionally.
Fiscal year. The 12-month period your business uses for its accounting, which may not match the calendar year.
SBDC. A Small Business Development Center, an SBA resource partner that offers free or low-cost counseling.
Human review. A person checking AI output before it reaches a customer or goes into a decision.
