- Booking.com has teamed up with OpenAI to offer training in Europe
- Six countries get free in-person training, virtual sessions and OpenAI Academy lessons
- OpenAI also wants to strengthen EU research into the safety and well-being of young people and support its governments
OpenAI has teamed up with Booking.com to launch a new scheme designed to help 20,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Europe adopt and use AI tools in their business operations.
The new co-developed program will provide free hands-on training to demonstrate some of AI’s use cases and its productivity, efficiency and competitiveness.
It will be available in part through the relatively new OpenAI Academy similar to US upskilling efforts, but there will also be in-person workshops and virtual sessions to reinforce learning.
From launch, the ‘SME AI Accelerator’ program will be available in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ireland and the UK.
The companies explained that the new program comes in response to relatively low AI uptake among SMEs – while 55% of larger companies used AI by 2025, according to Eurostat data cited in the announcement, only 17% of SMEs did. Given that SMBs account for 99% of all Europe’s businesses, there is huge scope for more training and implementation.
Still, European AI use impresses globally, with UE using 17% more advanced thinking skills than the global average.
“AI is accelerating change across all industries and creating transformational opportunities for growth and innovation for businesses of all sizes,” wrote Booking.com Chief Business Officer James Waters. “Building a strong, successful AI ecosystem in Europe is critical to unlocking these opportunities.”
Dates, locations and the actual organizations set to support local delivery will be announced in the coming months.
The Europe-specific SME AI Accelerator is part of a wider EU Economic Blueprint 2.0 plan, which also sets out plans to support research into youth safety and well-being and give governments access to OpenAI for Europe.
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