Abstract
We show that following the diffusion of GenAI, industries with higher task-level exposure to the new technology experience 20% more startup formation than less-exposed industries, and a growing share of these startups offer new AI products and services rather than merely automating operations. This entry is geographically dispersed, extending beyond traditional innovation hubs into regions with limited venture capital and thin specialized labor markets. While individual entrants are smaller in scale, aggregate entry generates net employment and wage growth at the industry level and creates employment in the very occupations most exposed to GenAI. GenAI also changes who becomes an entrepreneur: founding teams are increasingly drawn from high-exposure occupations and describe themselves in terms of technical, AI-related skills rather than the capital-raising and deal-making expertise, consistent with the technology enabling new uses of human capital rather than simply displacing workers.