The brief, “How State Policymakers and Community Leaders Can Help Close the Federal AI Policy Gap for Black Entrepreneurs,” notes that AI is expected to generate hundreds of billions in new household wealth by 2045. Historically, Black households only get around 38 cents of every dollar of new wealth created in the U.S., so if this trend continues, the racial wealth gap could grow by $43 billion each year over the next two decades.
“The brief is really about one single question: Who is the AI economy being built for, and who is being left out?” said Danielle A. (Davis) Canty, Esq., director of Tech Policy at the Joint Center, in an interview with the Amsterdam News. “We know that the AI economy is being built, and we want to make sure that … that African American entrepreneurs are here.”
The struggle for Black Americans to establish themselves in new technologies isn’t new. From the Industrial Revolution to the internet, Black innovators have had to learn to use emerging technologies, often having to master the intricacies on our own. We used the printing press for abolition and social media for Black Lives Matter, but Canty argues that AI is a level up because it isn’t just a tool; it is a system that mimics human thought and scales at a speed that could reinforce inequality.
“At the end of the day, we are going to continue to research and advocate for responsible use of AI, but right now, artificial intelligence is shaping how businesses operate, how they scale, how they compete,” Canty said. “It’s becoming a deciding factor in who can access markets and secure capital.”
Her report highlights four major barriers hindering Black entrepreneurs in the AI industry: the Knowledge Gap, where most AI education is designed for engineers rather than small business owners; the Infrastructure Gap, which gives us unequal access to broadband and high-level computing power necessary for advanced AI models; the Capital Gap, with Black founders receiving less than 1% of all venture capital funding; and the Representation Gap, where AI policy decisions are made without input from those most affected by them.
Canty noted that federal policy currently focuses too heavily on training workers for the AI age, rather than cultivating the new technology’s owners and creators. “If we only focus on workers, we miss a bigger opportunity with just ownership,” she explained. “The question is not just who gets displaced — which is an important issue — but it’s also about who gets to build and scale and also profit in the new economy.”
The Joint Center brief suggests that, given the lack of comprehensive federal AI regulation, state and local leaders should develop their own strategies for advancing AI understanding. This can be achieved with three key steps: first, intentional state investment by directing grants and tax incentives to Black-owned tech startups and AI-related small businesses; second, community-based reskilling by partnering with organizations such as Per Scholas and Code 2040 to offer tuition-free boot camps focused on tech placement for under-represented groups; and third, democratizing access by treating AI as a public good rather than a private utility.
Canty cautioned that tech leaders like Sam Altman have discussed making AI a paid utility, which could further restrict access. The best course of action is to act now while the technology remains accessible to all. “We have a small opportunity right now to use it to our benefit,” Canty said. “Right now, we can either allow AI to reinforce the same economic divide we’ve seen in every other major technological shift, or we can continually design policies that make it a ladder for entrepreneurship and wealth creation.”
The stakes are particularly high for Black workers, who are over-represented in sectors like food service, office support, and production — roles that could easily be replaced by AI. Canty pointed to her podcast, “The Miseducation of Technology,” specifically Episode 3, as a resource for those navigating this shift.
“We are moving in the direction where it does worry me whether or not some of these jobs are ever going to be fully replaced,” Canty admitted, noting the rise of human-free storefronts. “But I also think there is an opportunity, especially for the Black community who has been underfunded for a very long time, to take some of these technologies right now.”