Goldman Sachs Invests $500M in AI for Small Businesses with Google, Meta, OpenAI

Key Takeaways

• Goldman Sachs commits $500 million to AI training for small businesses through partnerships with Google, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic
• 71% of small businesses use AI for customer service and 63% for supply chains, according to a survey of 1,000 businesses
• AI adoption among Goldman's program graduates rose from 56% in 2024 to 86% today, but only 15% have fully integrated AI into core operations
• OpenAI nears a $30 billion funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, with UAE and Coatue leading the financing
• SentinelOne's AI agent investigations cut forensic probe times from 50 minutes to five minutes for over 5,000 customers
• Apple launched HomeView, a smart home hub powered by Apple Intelligence, while Meta reported record revenue from ad growth
• David's Bridal plans to spin off AI platform Pearl as a public company targeting a $350 million valuation
• Pearl expects EBITDA margins above 30% in 2026 and revenue growth over 100% in 2027, exceeding $85 million
• CoreWeave stock fell 8.35% despite launching six enterprise AI security features
• Portfolio managers trimmed 13.5% from AI-related holdings as the VanEck Semiconductor ETF lagged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100

Goldman Sachs commits $500 million to AI training for small businesses

Goldman Sachs is spending $500 million to grow its 10,000 Small Businesses program and create a Small Business AI Institute. The bank will work with Google, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic to teach entrepreneurs how to use AI. CEO David Solomon said businesses must adopt new technology or risk falling behind. The move is part of a larger effort to help small businesses on Main Street compete in the AI era.

Small businesses across the US are turning to AI in big ways

A survey of 1,000 small businesses found that 71% use AI to improve customer service and 63% use it to manage supply chains. The top industries using AI are healthcare, finance, technology, manufacturing and retail. Goldman Sachs released the data in a report called The State of AI in Small Business. The findings show that businesses of all sizes are finding practical ways to add AI to their daily work.

Goldman Sachs bets big on AI for small business growth

Goldman Sachs launched the Small Business AI Institute as part of a $500 million expansion of its 10,000 Small Businesses program. It will partner with Google, Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta to offer AI training and tools. A survey of over 2,400 program graduates found 86% now use AI in their businesses, up from 56% in 2024. However, only 15% have fully woven AI into their core operations.

SentinelOne's AI security push sets it apart from rivals

SentinelOne's focus on AI agent security and autonomous SOC is helping it stand out from other cybersecurity vendors. Partners said the company's years of investment in AI are paying off. Executives discussed this at SentinelOne's OneCon 2026 conference. The move is creating big opportunities for partners in services and solutions.

SentinelOne CEO says autonomous SOC tech gives company an edge

SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten said the company's Singularity ASOC offering is ahead of competitors in autonomous security operations. More than 5,000 customers can now run full forensic investigations with AI agents. Investigation times have dropped from about 50 minutes to roughly five minutes. Weingarten said the technology could open up 5X opportunities for partners in security services.

AI trade faces turning point as tech rotation continues

Portfolio managers trimmed 13.5% from AI-related holdings in their growth portfolio and added positions in energy and healthcare. A ratio chart shows the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) has lagged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 since peaking around June 1. The Nasdaq-100 formed a double top between June and September highs and is retesting broken support near 30,000. A SpaceX earnings rally pushed growth stocks back up, raising questions about whether this is a lasting turning point or a temporary bounce.

Bluechip stocks to watch as Big Tech launches AI products

Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms are highlighted as key bluechip stocks to watch. Apple launched a smart home hub called HomeView powered by Apple Intelligence. Meta Platforms achieved record revenue driven by growth in ad impressions and higher average ad prices across its apps. These developments come as Big Tech continues rolling out new AI products and reporting strong financial results.

AI changes data interfaces but not query engines

AI changes how users interact with data but does not replace the need for precise computation engines. The key approach is separating deterministic computation from probabilistic reasoning, where engines handle filtering and joins while agents interpret results. An embedded engine like DuckDB works well for moderate data volumes, while managed lakehouses suit larger shared datasets with multiple users. Production-grade agent analytics should retain source data, configuration, and model outputs so every report can be validated and replayed.

CoreWeave stock drops 8.35% despite new security features

CoreWeave stocks fell 8.35% even after the company introduced six enterprise AI security protections including customer-controlled encryption keys and provider access authorization. The company has a GF Score of 8 out of 100 and operates at a loss despite a $31.25 billion market capitalization and $76.44 billion enterprise value. Better security may help attract proprietary enterprise workloads, but investors still need proof that new contracts generate enough cash to support the infrastructure behind them.

OpenAI nears $30 billion funding round at $1.25 trillion valuation

OpenAI is close to finalizing a funding round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation. Investors from the United Arab Emirates and Coatue are leading the financing, which is being positioned as a bridge ahead of a potential IPO. OpenAI is also negotiating a commercial deal to secure more computing capacity from the UAE. The company told investors in February that it targets roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030.

AI in Radiology Moves From Fragmentation to Connected Workflows

The future of AI in radiology focuses on connecting data and workflows across health systems rather than building more standalone tools. Many hospitals already use AI for tasks like image analysis and worklist prioritization. However, clinicians still face fragmented information systems and heavy administrative burdens. The CDC reported nearly 46 percent of health workers felt burned out often or very often in 2022. Success will depend on governance, interoperability, clinical engagement, and trust. The next phase will be defined by how well organizations move from fragmentation to orchestration.

Study Tests How Robot Demonstrations Predict Better Policies

This research studies how to choose among robot demonstration corpora for better downstream performance. The team examined paired instruction dependence, which measures how often a demonstrator changes its first decision when only the goal changes. Across 136 quadruped-navigation corpora, predictions were trained on 56 corpora and tested on 80 held-out corpora. Results showed the audit was reliable and connected to downstream correctness, though incremental decision value was limited in this setting. The findings call for diagnostics that preserve outcome-relevant structure and are validated against the decisions they aim to support.

David's Bridal to Spin Off AI Platform Pearl as Public Company

David's Bridal plans to spin off its AI platform Pearl into a stand-alone publicly traded company with a target valuation of roughly $350 million. The company filed a nonbinding letter of intent and expects the deal to close in the first half of 2027. Pearl offers an agentic AI-powered wedding-planning platform, a tool to streamline appointments and communications, and a digital content network. It uses AI to personalize suggestions for each client. David's Bridal expects Pearl to generate an EBITDA margin above 30 percent this year and revenue growth over 100 percent in 2027, exceeding $85 million.

Sources

• Goldman Sachs spends big to give small businesses an AI boost
• Exclusive: How small businesses are really using AI around the country
• On Main Street, Goldman Sachs makes a big bet on AI
• SentinelOne’s AI Security Surge Driving ‘Separation’ From The Pack: Partners
• SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten On Autonomous SOC AI: ‘We’re Well Ahead’
• The AI trade may be at a turning point. Where it may go, and how to play it
• Best Bluechip Stocks to Watch as Big Tech Rolls Out New AI Products and Record Revenue
• AI Changes the Data Interface, Not the Query Engine
• CoreWeave Stocks Drop 8.35% Despite Enterprise AI Security Expansion
• OpenAI nears up to $30 billion funding round at $1.25 trillion valuation led by UAE investors
• What’s Next for AI in Radiology?: Facilitating Data Orchestration Over Fragmentation
• From Association to Decision Value: Testing Paired Instruction Dependence for VLA Corpus Selection
• David's Bridal plans to spin off AI platform Pearl into publicly traded company