The government unveils a national plan of 200 million euros to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in companies.
France is late in the adoption of artificial intelligence. This is the observation made by the executive which speaks of the “French paradox”: the country has a “very strong ecosystem”, “talents” and “infrastructures” but suffers from a “dissemination of AI which is sometimes lower than in our European neighbors”, explains the cabinet of Clara Chappaz, delegated minister responsible for artificial and digital intelligence. The figures are eloquent: only 8% of very small businesses and 13% of SMEs today use a turnkey ia solution, compared to more than half of large companies. Worse, “barely 30% of very small business leaders consider AI as strategic,” said the government.
In an attempt to reconcile companies with AI, Clara Chappaz announces this Tuesday, July 1, a large national plan focused on three pillars: awareness, training and support by financing.
Sensitize companies to the importance of AI
To make companies aware of the importance of AI, the government is betting on a network of 300 ambassadors made up of business leaders, experts and public figures from agriculture, industry, culture or even sport. Among them will include Christelle Eidemann (CEO of Orange), Maurice Lévy, Jean-Pierre Farandou or the artist Agoria. These ambassadors will have the mission of testifying and aware of all business leaders by explaining “why do they use AI and how”, specifies the cabinet of Clara Chappaz.
In parallel, a national operation of chambers of commerce and industry will be deployed with an objective of raising awareness among 20,000 companies this year. The plan also provides for the organization of dozens of sectoral “matchmaking IA” meetings to bring together companies and solutions suppliers, around two per month. A large national business meeting is scheduled for February 2026, on the model of AI Business Days organized during the February 2025 summit.
Train 15 million professionals by 2030
On the training component, the government plans to launch by the end of the year “the ACA ACADEMY”, a free online platform open to all. The platform will bring together a wide range of training and tutorials adapted to each audience: tutorials accessible for craftsmen and VSEs, business training for SMEs and ETIs, modules dedicated to executive committees or even public officials. The objective is not to create new training courses but rather to “provide training that already exists for the concern of readability and visibility of the training offer”, explains the minister’s office.
The ambition is to train 15 million professionals by 2030, by mobilizing all the existing tools such as the CPF, the VAE, the CFAs or France Work. The Ministry of Labor is “strongly mobilized on the plan so as not to train business managers but also all employees,” said the government. Finally, the recognition of the skills IA will be facilitated via specific, referenced and accessible certifications on my account.
100 million euros to boost French innovation
The third pillar of the plan focuses on the financial and technical support of companies. To remove the brakes on investment, the government plans to finance 5,000 “data-IA” diagnoses, subsidized up to 4,000 euros per diagnosis, or 40% of the total cost. The latter will allow companies to “understand how they can use AI and what are the solutions that are available to them”. A bank guarantee fund will also be set up to help finance AI projects up to 500,000 euros over 10 years.
On the innovation side, the State relies on a new call for projects France 2030 “Pioneers of the AI”, launched in early June, with 100 million euros. The idea is to identify and finance French Futures in AI in robotics, industry, health or Greentech. The government also wants to accelerate 100 concrete use cases by connecting companies with a specific need with mature tech solutions to move forward quickly. At the same time, on July 1, the executive will unveil the 10 winners of the “Generative IA uses” program, pilot projects in education, health, the media and industry intended to be replicated massively. Finally, to simplify the life of lost managers in the jungle of product offers, a catalog of IA solutions will be posted. Priority will be given to French and European tools.
With this 200 million euros plan, the government is set as a goal of ensuring that 100% of large companies use AI by 2030, compared to 50% today. For medium -sized companies, the target is set at 80% adoption in SMEs and ETIs, and 50% in VSEs. The executive relies on a regional approach based on existing structures: CCI, French Tech and Bpifrance. The AI must be deployed “everywhere in France and well beyond Paris”, insists the cabinet of Clara Chappaz.
