Getting Started with AI Funding in France: SME Guide

If your company operates in France, a government programme called Osez l'IA, launched in July 2025 and expanded in June 2026, gives French SMEs three concrete levers: an AI diagnostic co-funded by Bpifrance (the French public investment bank), free training resources, and a network of regional advisers. The €200m envelope is jointly run by entreprises.gouv.fr and Bpifrance. For a business leader, the most immediate entry point is the Diag Data IA diagnostic, which costs around €6,000 excl. VAT out of pocket after the 40% co-funding rate in place since June 2026.

This scheme sits alongside other options covered in our overview of how France funds AI projects for SMEs, including regional levers such as funding available in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

What is the Osez l'IA programme?

The logic behind the initiative is simple: the French government has observed that SMEs lag behind on AI, not for lack of interest, but for lack of clarity about what is available. Osez l'IA brings several existing and new mechanisms together under one name, with a clear message for business owners: resources exist, they are accessible, and they cover both diagnosis and training.

The programme is run by the ministry in charge of businesses, with Bpifrance as the main operator for the funding side. It is not a grant pot you apply to like a call for projects: it is a catalogue of tools, which each SME can draw on at its own pace, depending on where it stands.

What are the programme's three pillars?

Diag Data IA: a co-funded diagnostic to identify your use cases

This is the most structuring pillar. Bpifrance's Diag Data IA co-funds roughly 10 days of expert work, spread over 3 months, to identify the priority AI use cases in your business and cost out their expected return. The deliverable is a prioritised roadmap, not a theoretical report.

The reference cost is around €10,000 excl. VAT. After Bpifrance's co-funding, set at 40% since 17 June 2026, the out-of-pocket cost for the SME sits at around €6,000 excl. VAT. The full detail of the process, eligibility criteria and how to prepare for the engagement is covered in our dedicated guide to the Bpifrance Diag Data IA scheme.

AI Academy: free training resources

Bpifrance's AI Academy offers open-access training modules: videos, practical guides and themed learning paths on AI applied to SMEs. The goal is to let a business owner or their team build skills without any upfront investment. The content covers AI fundamentals, common business use cases and regulatory questions, including the EU AI Act.

These resources complement more structured, employer-funded training through an OPCO (France's sector-based training funding bodies), as detailed in our guide to funding AI training in France via the OPCO.

The AI Ambassadors network: a regional presence

The third pillar operates locally. AI Ambassadors are advisers deployed across French regions to point SMEs towards the right schemes, answer initial questions and help connect businesses with experts. This is often how business owners first hear about the Diag Data IA or the AI Academy.

Who is eligible for Osez l'IA?

Access to the training resources and the adviser network is open to every business, with no particular conditions. The Diag Data IA diagnostic, on the other hand, has precise criteria.

Eligible for the Diag: SMEs and mid-sized companies with 10 to 2,000 employees, generating at least €1m in revenue over a 12-month period, more than a year old, registered in France's official companies register, in any sector, across mainland France and its overseas territories. Companies in financial difficulty under EU rules are excluded.

Two thresholds are often misread. The 10-employee floor rules out the smallest structures, which fall under other schemes. And the 2,000-employee ceiling does not exclude larger mid-sized companies, contrary to a common assumption: it only excludes the very largest of them, a category that runs up to 4,999 employees under French classification.

How much does the Diag Data IA cost out of pocket?

The maths is straightforward. The reference engagement is priced at around €10,000 excl. VAT for roughly 10 days of work. Bpifrance covers 40% of that, a rate in place since 17 June 2026. The out-of-pocket cost for the SME is therefore around €6,000 excl. VAT.

This rate has changed several times in 2026 (42%, then 25% in January, then 40% since June). The safe approach is to confirm the current rate when you actually put the application together, rather than relying on a figure that may already be out of date.

Against that cost, weigh the expected gain: a well-run diagnostic typically identifies two or three projects whose expected return significantly exceeds the money spent. It also helps avoid investing in a poorly scoped AI project, which costs considerably more than a diagnostic ever would.

How do you actually apply, step by step?

The process comes down to five steps.

1. Check eligibility: company size, age, fiscal and social standing.
2. Identify a Bpifrance-approved expert: the company chooses which expert it wants to name. This choice matters, since it shapes the quality of the diagnostic.
3. Submit the application on the Bpifrance portal, naming the chosen expert directly.
4. Scope the diagnostic with the expert: priorities, available data, everyday pain points to put on the table.
5. Run the debrief with management, so the findings turn into decisions rather than a report left in a drawer.

Our page on funded AI assessments explains how this expert role is delivered in practice: scoping, running the diagnostic, and handing over an executable roadmap.

Does Osez l'IA stop at the diagnostic?

No. The diagnostic is an entry point, not an end in itself. The projects it surfaces are then funded through other levers: training for your team runs through your OPCO, and technical implementation can draw on specific regional grants. The point is to think through the whole journey from the scoping stage onward. France Num lists complementary support schemes to combine with Osez l'IA depending on your region and sector.