A first assessment drawn up on 3 September 2026
On 3 September 2026, Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, gathered the stakeholders of the « Osez l'IA » plan at Bercy to draw up its first assessment. Launched on 1er July 2025 by her predecessor Clara Chappaz, as part of the national AI strategy, the plan is based on three pillars: raising awareness, training, and supporting businesses. It was allocated 200 million euros.
The stated ambition is considerable: to have AI adopted, by 2030, by 100 % of large companies, 80 % of SMEs and mid-sized companies, and 50 % of very small businesses, compared with 53 %, 13 %, and 8 % respectively at the time of launch, according to the figures then presented by the government. The plan also aimed to train 15 million people by 2030.
What the official figures say
The government press release speaks of a "first positive assessment." The published indicators are as follows:
- more than 35 000 businesses reached thanks to a network of 615 "AI Ambassadors" present in 20 regions and local authorities, covering 13 business sectors;
- 88 providers of AI solutions suited to SMEs and mid-sized companies listed in a catalog published on 30 July 2026 with Hub France IA;
- 70 Data AI diagnostics initiated;
- 54 use cases gathered on the "Accélérez avec l'IA" platform, opened in June 2026.
The government also highlights a tripling of AI adoption by businesses in two years, and the new stage sets a target of 1 000 Data AI diagnostics.
Raising awareness is not equipping
The specialized press read these figures with more caution. LeMagIT headlines "a modest start" and notes that the figure of 35 000 businesses reached is identical to the one already announced in June, at VivaTech. ZDNet summarizes: "35 000 businesses reached but few purchases." A "reached" business attended an information session; this says nothing about its transition to a concrete project.
The indicator that measures this transition to action is the Data AI diagnostic: a service of eight person-days billed at 10 000 euros excluding tax, covered at 40 % by France 2030. At launch, the government mentioned funding for nearly 5 000 diagnostics. A year later, 70 have been committed and the stated objective has been reduced to 1 000. The second scheme operated by Bpifrance, the "AI Accelerators" (support over 18 months funded at 46 % by France 2030), opens a new cohort in 2026 with a track dedicated to industry.
A modest and partly recycled budget
The amount itself invites caution. Of the 200 million euros announced, half corresponded to funds already announced the previous year under a France 2030 call for projects, according to Silicon; the other half was to fund a bank guarantee fund and the diagnostics. Relative to the millions of businesses in the country, the envelope remains small.
This finding aligns with that of the Court of Auditors. In its November 2025 report on the national AI strategy, it noted that support for business demand "has only benefited from very modest schemes" between 2023 and 2025, and that the expected acceleration of AI adoption in the economy "has not occurred." Osez l'IA is precisely the response to this delay; its first year shows that a change of scale will be needed to close the gap.
The sovereignty angle
The plan includes a sovereignty component, often less commented on. The catalog published this summer references French and European providers, selected through a call for expressions of interest, with solutions presented as deployable without in-house expertise: copilots, document search platforms, customer relationship automation, industrial quality control. France 2030 also launched in May 2026 a call for expressions of interest to identify sovereign AI solutions for SMEs and mid-sized companies.
The stakes are real: an SME that discovers AI most often does so through consumer tools, which are predominantly American. Steering demand toward a European offering requires that offering to be visible, simple, and competitive. The Court of Auditors recommends promoting the development of a high-performance software offering associated with sovereign clouds. The catalog is a first step; its effect on actual purchases has not yet been measured.
A "new phase" to move into action
The government announces an intensification of field actions, a new wave of selection of AI Ambassadors in the second half of 2026, the enrichment of the platform and catalog, the deployment of 1 000 diagnostics, and new cohorts of Accelerators. Anne Le Hénanff herself acknowledges that most of the work remains to be done, especially among very small businesses and companies that "still think AI is not for them."
The diagnosis is therefore shared, beyond the tone. The first year made it possible to build the apparatus: a network, a catalog, a platform, co-financing mechanisms. The second year will have to prove that it produces projects. With less than four years to reach 80 % of SMEs and mid-caps, the current pace is not enough.
What to remember
"Dare AI" is not a failure, but not yet a success. The plan has raised broad awareness and set up the right tools, on a modest budget. Its decisive indicator—the number of companies moving from diagnosis to investment—remains very low. It is on this front, and on the share of European solutions actually adopted, that it will need to be judged in 2027.
Sources
- DGE, "One year of the Dare AI plan: a first positive assessment and a new phase," September 2026
- LeMagIT, "Dare AI: a modest start," 4 September 2026
- ZDNet, "35 000 companies reached but few purchases," 8 September 2026
- Batinfo, assessment of 3 September 2026
- DGE, presentation of the plan, 2 July 2025
- La Gazette France, objectives and adoption rate at launch, July 2025
- Numerama, launch of the plan and 5 000 planned diagnostics, 1 July 2025
- Silicon, composition of 200 million euros, 1 July 2025
- Court of Auditors, summary of the report on the national AI strategy, November 2025
