According to the France Num 2026 barometer, an annual survey conducted by Crédoc for the Direction générale des entreprises (DGE), 40 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France are using at least one artificial intelligence (AI) solution. This represents a significant increase of 14 percentage points from 2025 and three times the adoption rate seen in 2024. The results were published on September 28, 2026, by France Num in press release number 1062. The growth in AI adoption has been steady, rising from 13 percent in September 2024 to 26 percent a year later, and reaching 40 percent in 2026. Among SMEs, the increase was even more pronounced, jumping from 16 percent in 2024 to 53 percent in 2026. AI adoption varies across different sectors. The digital sector leads with 72 percent of users, followed by specialized and technical services (60 percent), financial activities (46 percent), construction (30 percent), transport and logistics (29 percent), food processing (27 percent), and agriculture (18 percent). The gap between the highest and lowest sectors is 54 percentage points, but the rate of growth differs. While the digital sector grows at a slower rate (1.4 times), agriculture and construction experience a faster growth rate (2 times). In agriculture, for instance, the number of AI users increased from 4 percent in 2024 to 9 percent in 2025. The primary uses of AI in small businesses and SMEs are centered around text and conversation. Content generation, such as text, voice, or image creation, is cited by 34 percent of small businesses and SMEs, an increase of 12 percentage points. Conversational assistants and chatbots are used by 24 percent, up 10 percentage points. Other uses include document analysis and classification (13 percent, +7 points), task automation (11 percent, +6 points), and data analysis (9 percent, +4 points). The first two uses—content generation and conversational assistants—typically require no installation or configuration and are accessible through general-purpose AI assistants. Nineteen percent of small businesses and SMEs use paid AI solutions, with a higher percentage (32 percent) among SMEs. If all paying companies are indeed using AI, then nearly half of AI users pay for the tools they use, and this ratio rises to about three out of five among SMEs. The barometer does not directly link AI use to payment, but the editorial team has reconstructed this information. The survey categorizes expenses into subscriptions or licenses (17 percent), training (5 percent), specific developments (3 percent), and consulting and services (2 percent). Integration, customization, and support remain relatively minor. Despite this, 76 percent of companies use their data to manage activities, but primarily through business software or spreadsheets, with only 5 percent using AI.