From greater flexibility to a sense of ownership to the hope of financial gain, solopreneurship feels like the new American dream. However, that dream comes with a hidden cost that has nothing to do with the endless hustle that comes with owning a business and being the sole employee of that business. It is the undeniable cost to the planet.
In 2025, around 41 million businesses in the US were run by a single person who is both their owner and sole employee. As AI allows entrepreneurs to automate an increasing number of tasks, technology is allowing small businesses (from jobs like content creation to event planning or even specialized jobs like dog grooming or jewelry making, and more) to absolutely thrive with a one-person team. So, while it may have taken a person with an idea an entire team to turn that idea into real cash flow in the past, it is now completely feasible (and hugely popular) to do so with the help of AI.
This is true for entrepreneur Dan Mazei, who was previously a communications and marketing leader for organizations like Reebok, Tinder, Activision Blizzard and Ford, and a long-time agency leader for major clients like Nintendo and Unilever. Now, Mazei runs his own business as founder and director of All Tangled Roots, a marketing consultancy for brands, with the help of AI. Mazei tells fast company that AI is crucial to its business model as it can “level the playing field for a solo service provider versus a sea of heavily staffed agencies” that are doing the same type of work.
The same goes for Samantha Levitin, a solopreneur and founder of Levitin Collective, a boutique PR firm working on lifestyle, wellness, hospitality, and consumer brands in New York. (She is also a first-time mother to a 15-month-old baby.) Levitin says AI allows her to manage the dreaded mental load that comes with running a business and being a mother. “Starting my own company meant knowing I would do everything myself, and AI helped me fill gaps that would normally require a small team, which I was used to,” Levitin says.
The entrepreneur adds that she started building her business while she was on maternity leave, and ultimately, that has given her “flexibility and balance.” She says, “I intentionally designed the company to be small… and AI gives me time and mental space back so I can focus on what matters most in my field: creative thinking, relationship building, and hands-on client work.”
Still, we can’t talk about the incredible power of AI to turn dreams into reality without talking about the cost. While there are many challenges that can arise when running a one-person business (such as working 24 hours a day or significant financial risks), there are also clear environmental costs that are largely ignored.
According to a 2024 MIT report on the environmental impact of AI, the energy demands arising from both training and using AI are enormous and growing all the time. In North America, electricity needs increased from 2,688 megawatts at the end of 2022 to 5,341 megawatts the following year, mainly due to growing demand for generative AI. And experts worry that we simply don’t care enough about that stark reality.
Noman Bashir, lead author of the environmental impact paper, Computing and Climate Impact Fellow at the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) and postdoc at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), says, according to MIT, that the impact is huge but “the everyday user doesn’t think about it too much.” According to Bashir, the reason is twofold. “The ease of use of generative AI interfaces and the lack of information about the environmental impacts of my actions means that, as a user, I don’t have much incentive to reduce the use of generative AI,” explains Bashir.
Jonathan Schaeffer, an AI researcher and CEO of a startup called Kind, agrees. Schaefer tells fast company that “not enough attention is being paid to the hidden environmental costs” of this widespread technology. “AI tools can significantly increase the energy consumption involved, particularly of the huge data centers required to support cloud-based AI systems,” explains the CEO. “These data centers, which host thousands of servers running AI models, consume large amounts of electricity, much of which still comes from non-renewable resources, contributing significantly to carbon emissions.”
Schaefer adds that technology also comes with a hidden financial cost that most people don’t realize they may end up paying for themselves. “In many jurisdictions, the ability to power these data centers contributes to a significant increase in the price of electricity, a cost that is often passed on to consumers.”
Additionally, the CEO says that data centers require more than just power to operate, they “also need cooling systems to prevent overheating,” which would further increase their environmental footprint. According to Bloomberg, which analyzed data from DC Byte, electricity costs in areas located near “significant data center activity” increased 267% in one month compared to data from five years earlier.
Kevin Gast, co-founder and CEO of VVater, a next-generation water treatment company dedicated to using advanced technologies to address global water challenges, is primarily concerned about the pace at which AI is advancing. “When you multiply millions of daily AI interactions in companies around the world, you see a significant environmental burden that most people are simply not aware of,” says Gast. fast company. “Data centers already use billions of gallons (of water) annually, and as AI becomes more integrated into everyday business operations, that demand is only accelerating. We are seeing increased pressure on freshwater resources in certain regions, especially where facilities overlap with areas already managing water.” According to a 2025 global study from Arizona State University, freshwater resources have been depleting since 2002 at an unprecedented rate.
On the plus side, Gast says solutions are developing almost as quickly. “We are seeing significant investments in closed-loop water recycling systems, advanced treatment technologies, and strategic location of facilities in regions with better water availability and naturally cooling climates.” He continues: “The challenge now is to accelerate that progress to keep pace with the speed with which AI is adopted across all sectors.”
While more and more people are turning to AI to run their businesses, that doesn’t mean they’re completely unaware of its impact. Mazei says that, on a human level, he is wary of big tech “overreach,” such as “potentially integrating someone else’s code into our most personal choices.” Still, the entrepreneur credits technology for helping him “choose a career path” that he “didn’t think was viable just a few years ago.”
As the cost of living continues to rise, and even talented and motivated professionals struggle to find well-paying jobs, individual entrepreneurs may find that putting aside their concern for the environment is a small price to pay to realize the otherwise elusive American dream.