{"slug": "hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes", "title": "Hong Kong to launch free AI courses with tech giants Google, Microsoft for SMEs", "summary": "Hong Kong's Productivity Council announced Thursday a free AI training programme for small and medium-sized enterprises, backed by the government's HK$50 million (US$6.38 million) 'AI for All' initiative and featuring courses developed with Google and Microsoft. Targeting sectors including education, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and logistics, the programme aims to help SMEs adopt AI for content creation, data analysis and workflow efficiency, with Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong noting that over 90% of Hong Kong businesses are SMEs.", "body_md": "# Hong Kong to launch free AI courses with tech giants Google, Microsoft for SMEs\n\nProductivity Council collaborating with tech giants to roll out free training, boosting business adoption under HK$50 million initiative\n\nFree courses coordinated by the Hong Kong government will leverage the expertise of tech giants such as Google and Microsoft to help boost the adoption of AI by businesses for content creation, data analysis and workflow efficiency.\n\nThe Hong Kong Productivity Council on Thursday announced the launch of the programme targeting industries such as education, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and logistics as part of the government’s HK$50 million (US$6.38 million) “AI for All” initiative.\n\n“Currently, over 90 per cent of businesses in Hong Kong are small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and comprise the most important part of the city’s economic development,” Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said.\n\n“Therefore, how we can help SMEs transform and upgrade through AI to enhance their competitiveness is an important direction within the AI for All initiative.”\n\nCouncil deputy chairman Emil Yu Chen-on said the courses would go beyond teaching employees to use artificial intelligence, calling them “a future-facing talent investment” that also ensured the technology was used safely.\n\n“It’s to … truly transform AI into productivity and competitiveness,” he said. “We can provide actionable, replicable, and expandable AI application areas that cater to the needs of different industries.”", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3365474/hong-kong-launch-free-ai-courses-tech-giants-google-microsoft-smes?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-08-27 10:36:49+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-27 10:50:19.157729+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Hong Kong Productivity Council", "Google", "Microsoft", "Sun Dong", "Emil Yu Chen-on", "Hong Kong government"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kong-to-launch-free-ai-courses-with-tech-giants-google-microsoft-for-smes.jsonld"}}