One Year of the Osez l’IA Plan: What France’s AI Adoption Report Reveals

One year after its launch, the Osez l'IA plan (“Dare AI”) is taking stock for the first time. Meeting on September 3, 2026 at the Centre Pierre Mendès-France in Bercy, the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs Anne Le Hénanff and the Director General for Enterprises (DGE, the French government's business policy directorate) Thomas Courbe presented the results of a program designed to bring artificial intelligence into the daily operations of French businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A program created to remove SMEs' barriers to AI

Launched on July 1, 2025 with a budget of 200 million euros, the Osez l'IA plan had one precise goal: to accelerate the spread of artificial intelligence within French businesses, particularly smaller companies, which are often held back by a lack of in-house skills or difficulty identifying a relevant use case. This program adds to a broader budgetary effort: in the spring, the Prime Minister had announced an additional investment of 655 million euros through France 2030 to strengthen the national artificial intelligence strategy — a separate allocation, focused on digital sovereignty and infrastructure, but one that reflects the same determination not to let France miss the AI shift.

The one-year results

The report presented in early September is based on several deployment indicators:

• More than 35,000 businesses made aware of artificial intelligence since the plan's launch;
• A network of 615 AI ambassadors, tasked with supporting business leaders on the ground;
• A presence in 20 regions and territories, covering 13 industry sectors;
• The launch of a new working group called “AI and Inclusion”, so that the spread of AI isn't limited to major metropolitan areas or to businesses that are already well equipped.

This effort is part of a broader trend: on the ground, adoption of artificial intelligence by French businesses is already progressing rapidly, even though concrete productivity gains remain, for many business leaders, still hard to quantify precisely.

Why this matters for businesses betting on AI agents

For businesses considering deploying AI agents rather than simple generative tools, this network of ambassadors can become a useful entry point: beyond funding, the challenge is also methodological — framing a realistic use case, choosing the right level of autonomy to grant the agent, and securing the data being processed. The topic extends beyond the private sector, too: the same logic of guided deployment can be found within the government, where a sovereign AI assistant is gradually taking hold at the heart of public services. And the question of infrastructure is never far away: without computing capacity available within the country, the ambition set out in the Osez l'IA plan would remain largely theoretical, which is why France is also investing massively in its AI-dedicated data centers alongside these adoption plans.

What to keep watching

The press release presenting the report does not detail a precise budget trajectory for the coming year, nor a method for measuring the economic gains actually generated by the businesses supported. The plan's success will therefore be judged less by the number of businesses “made aware” than by the share of them that actually move on to regular, well-managed use of artificial intelligence. It also remains to be seen how the new “AI and Inclusion” working group will turn its intentions into concrete measures for the regions and sectors that are currently the least advanced — otherwise, the risk is widening the gap between businesses that are already equipped and those that are not.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Osez l'IA plan?

It is a public program launched on July 1, 2025, with a budget of 200 million euros, aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence by French businesses, particularly SMEs.

What do the 615 AI ambassadors do?

This network, deployed across 20 regions and territories and 13 industry sectors, supports business leaders on the ground in identifying concrete use cases for artificial intelligence and removing barriers to its adoption.

Is the Osez l'IA plan connected to the 655 million euro investment announced in the spring?

No, these are two separate allocations: Osez l'IA targets AI adoption by businesses, while the 655 million euros announced through France 2030 concern the national digital sovereignty strategy and infrastructure.

Sources

Ministry of the Economy — One Year of the Osez l'IA Plan
Public Sénat — 655 Million Euros for Sovereign AI
Bpifrance — Osez l'IA Plan Report

This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence. Editorial policy