OpenAI has partnered with travel firm Booking.com to launch a programme to train 20,000 SMEs across Europe in AI skills.

The scheme is part of OpenAI’s EU Economic Blueprint 2.0, a set of initiatives designed to accelerate adoption of AI across the continent and UK to ensure people, businesses and countries make full use of the technology.

According to figures from data company Eurostat, just 17 per cent of small businesses have adopted AI compared to 55 per cent of large enterprises.

OpenAI said the SME AI Accelerator will help close this gap, helping SMEs to boost their productivity and grow their businesses with AI.

The programme will be available across in six countries including the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

It is open to small business owners and teams across all sectors, including those with no technical background, and will consist of free in-person workshops and virtual training sessions hosted on OpenAI’s AI learning platform, OpenAI Academy.

OpenAI said its data shows the EU uses 17 per cent more thinking capabilities, a measure of the amount of effort the model uses to respond to user queries, than the rest of the world.

However, there are big differences between member states, with the most intensive country using approximately 40 per cent more thinking capabilities than the least, and nine EU countries still fall below the global average.

Elsewhere, OpenAI added that it will also launch a €500,000 Youth Safety Grant Program to support the EU community with child protection, digital wellbeing, and evidence-based approaches to youth online safety.

---