MORE PEOPLE ARE STARTING BUSINESSES THAT NEVER PLAN TO HIRE ANYONE New Census-based research from the Mercatus Center tracked business applications in the sectors most exposed to AI: professional services, information, education, and finance and insurance. From early 2024 to early 2026, applications with no sign of future payroll rose 26.8%, from about 222,000 a quarter to 281,000. Applications that look like future employers fell 6.4% over the same stretch. In construction and wholesale, where AI use is low, the no-hire filings barely moved. The author is careful to say the data does not prove AI caused it. But all of the growth in new filings in those sectors came from people who plan to work alone. That matters for anyone counting on new small businesses to hire the people big companies keep cutting.