Facebook to invest in training French nationals in digital skills

The social media giant said it would train 65,000 people and plough another $8.9 million into artificial intelligence by 2022. The company is helping jobseekers, and women set up their own businesses.

This file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of US online social media and social networking service Facebook.
AFP Archive

This file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of US online social media and social networking service Facebook.

Facebook said on Monday that it would train 65,000 French people in digital skills in free schemes to help women set up businesses and the long-term unemployed get back to work.

The internet giant also announced that it would pour an additional $8.9 million (10 million euros) into artificial intelligence in France by 2022, without saying how much it would invest in the training schemes.

The US social network would work with 50,000 jobseekers in a partnership with the national unemployment agency, helping them with their computer skills, until late 2019, a company statement said.

At the same time it would work with 15,000 French women hoping to start their own companies, in an expansion of the She Means Business campaign already present in several countries.

Helping women

That scheme would give 3,500 women intensive free computer training across various French cities, with another 11,500 women given access to an online course.

"These initiatives are part of a pan-European programme, with Facebook hoping to train a million people and business founders by 2020," the internet giant said.

Its artificial intelligence investment would meanwhile allow Facebook to double the number of researchers at its AI hub in Paris – one of four worldwide – to 60.

"Facebook wants to play a key role in France's ambition to become the international champion of AI." the social network said.

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