July 1, 2025. The launch of the national plan “Dare AI” (Osez l’IA), led by Clara Chappaz, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, marks a decisive turning point: that of a useful, ethical, and sovereign AI, serving all French businesses without exception.
This plan is part of a strategic continuity that began in 2018. It responds to a threefold observation: AI is already present in our professional lives, it is a powerful lever for competitiveness, but its adoption remains too limited and uneven depending on company size and sector. According to figures from the France Num 2024 Barometer, only 13% of SMEs have integrated an AI solution, even though two out of three employees already use generative AI tools in their daily work, often without framework, strategy, or support.
Faced with this gap, the State is taking responsibility. The plan aims for massive, pragmatic, and structured AI deployment by 2030. Three targets have been set: 100% of large companies, 80% of SMEs/mid-sized companies, and 50% of very small businesses must have integrated AI into their operations. This transformation is not based on imposing a technology, but on supporting usage, building stakeholder skills, and financing a controlled scale-up.
First building block: awareness. The government is deploying 300 AI ambassadors across all regions, in partnership with Chambers of Commerce, French Tech, Bpifrance, and France 2030 territorial networks. Among them are leaders of large companies, researchers, civil society actors, influencers, and SME managers. All have the mission of embodying AI in their sector, sharing concrete benefits, and helping businesses ask the right questions. “What is AI for?” and “Where do I start?” are the most recurring questions. The network responds on the ground, with a sector-specific and contextualized approach.
Second lever: training. The task is colossal. The goal is to train 15 million professionals by 2030. The AI Academy, which will open in October 2025, will offer a unified, free platform with content adapted to all levels: craftspeople, managers, employees, job seekers, apprentices. Modules will be integrated into vocational training centers, France Travail training programs, and existing systems such as the CPF (Personal Training Account). AI thus becomes a cross-cutting skill, just like basic digital literacy. This dynamic will be reinforced by the introduction of mandatory courses on artificial intelligence starting in eighth grade, to ensure national, reasoned, and sustainable acculturation.
Third component: technical and financial support. The plan provides 200 million euros of investment to structure access to AI solutions. The “Data AI” diagnostic, operated by Bpifrance, will be co-financed at 40%. It includes 10 days of expert intervention to identify relevant use cases, assess their feasibility, and build a realistic roadmap. Feedback is conclusive: in aeronautics, logistics, and sales administration, rapid productivity gains have already been observed.
Once diagnostics are completed, businesses will be able to access a catalog of solutions classified by use case and sector. This repository, accessible through the AI Academy, allows for comparing, testing, and integrating concrete tools: automated writing software, predictive maintenance, image analysis, conversational AI. Three examples illustrate the diversity of State-supported applications: Gleamer, in radiological diagnosis; Cobbai, in improving customer experience for OpenClassrooms; 3WAYSTE, in automating waste sorting.
For businesses carrying out structural projects, a State-guaranteed loan scheme is being deployed. Amounts can reach several hundred thousand euros, with support lasting up to five years. In addition, two calls for projects reinforce this dynamic: “Acceleration of Generative AI Uses,” whose first 10 winners have been announced, and “AI Pioneers,” intended to support technological breakthroughs in key sectors such as health, industry, or environment. Allocated amounts range from €100,000 to €10M per project.
INRIA, through its “project factory,” will play the role of scientific catalyst. The goal is to promote technology transfer to SMEs, by mobilizing researchers and building tailor-made partnerships with industrial sectors. The agreement signed with CETIM in the mechanical industries serves as a reproducible model for other sectors.
All economic sectors are concerned. In healthcare, AI optimizes care pathways, improves diagnosis, and streamlines hospital processes. In the cultural sector, it opens the way to intelligent valorization of heritage and content. In education, it personalizes learning and transforms the teacher’s role. In ecological transition, it models emissions, detects anomalies, and optimizes energy consumption. In construction, AI rethinks the management of materials, construction sites, and thermal renovation. In sports, it supports performance and inclusion. In transportation, it anticipates maintenance and optimizes flows. Each ministry is mobilized to implement AI uses within its scope.
The plan is also based on a stated commitment to digital sovereignty. France intends to support its national champions—starting with Mistral AI—and ensure that data, models, and uses remain aligned with European values. Dependence on GAFAM is now perceived as a strategic risk. As such, the State coordinates its actions with the European regulation on artificial intelligence (AI Act), while promoting the construction of sovereign alternatives.
A major national dialogue has been launched with Make.org to gather citizens’ expectations, identify obstacles, and build AI in service of the general interest. The approach is inclusive. It also addresses local authorities: more than half of them are already conducting an AI project. This territorial network is strengthened by the France 2030 reference sub-prefects, to guarantee consistency between national strategies and local realities.
The deadlines are precise. From October 2025, AI diagnostics and the Academy will be operational. In January 2026, acceleration programs will begin, accompanied by the bank guarantee fund. In February 2026, AI Business Day will bring together all ecosystem actors to take stock of progress made. All mechanisms are designed to be agile, scalable, and regularly evaluated.
This plan, much more than a technocratic impulse, aims to build a culture of innovation on a national scale. The challenge is not to undergo the AI revolution, but to master it. Not to delegate digital transformation to external actors, but to anchor it in the territories. Artificial intelligence thus becomes a fundamental building block of our industrial sovereignty, our economic resilience, and our societal project.
Through “Dare AI,” France proposes an ambitious, operational, and inclusive roadmap. It is not about making every manager an engineer, but about enabling everyone, whatever their activity, to tame AI, benefit from it, and dare to transform. The success of this plan will depend on collective mobilization. Because AI, to be a lever of emancipation, must be shared. Understand. Train. Support. This is the method. Now it’s up to everyone to seize it.
