OpenAI and Booking.com today announced the launch of the SME AI Accelerator, a Europe-wide initiative designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises across all sectors adopt artificial intelligence and put it to practical use in their day-to-day operations.
Supporting More Than 20,000 SMEs Across Europe
The SME AI Accelerator will aim to support more than 20,000 SMEs over the next year with free, hands-on training focused on practical applications of AI. The programme is open to small business owners and teams across all sectors, including those with no technical background, and focuses on using AI tools to improve productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness.
The programme will be delivered across six countries – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ireland, and the UK – through a combination of in-person workshops and virtual training sessions hosted on OpenAI’s free AI learning platform, OpenAI Academy. Participation is free of charge and will include AI upskilling, practical guidance, and support tailored to everyday business needs.
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Boosting AI Adoption
SMEs account for 99 percent of businesses in Europe, but AI adoption remains uneven. While large European companies are already embedding AI into everyday workflows and seeing productivity gains, many small businesses face barriers to adoption. In 2025, AI adoption among small businesses stood at 17 percent, compared with 55 percent among large enterprises (Eurostat).
The SME AI Accelerator aims to help close Europe’s AI capability gap, highlighted by new OpenAI data showing a widening disconnect between what frontier AI systems can do and how widely they are being used in practice.
James Waters, Chief Business Officer, Booking.com: “AI is accelerating change across every industry, creating transformational opportunities for growth and innovation for businesses of all sizes. Building a strong, successful AI ecosystem in Europe is vital to unlocking these opportunities, and we’re proud to partner on this initiative to further empower SMEs in their learning journey.”
The SME AI Accelerator builds on OpenAI Academy, OpenAI’s free AI literacy initiative, which has already reached more than two million learners globally.
In the coming months, OpenAI and Booking.com will announce the national organisations supporting local delivery of the SME AI Accelerator, along with dates and locations for upcoming events.
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