If you have searched for “Kit Digital AI” this summer, you will have seen dozens of pages promising a voucher “of up to €12,000” to build a chatbot or automate your invoicing with artificial intelligence, “open until funds run out”. Some include a form to “reserve your spot”. Before you fill it in, it is worth knowing what the BOE (Spain’s official gazette) says and what Red.es says, because the real picture is quite different from the one being sold.
What Red.es says: there is no open call
On 31 October 2025, Red.es closed the last two Kit Digital calls that remained open (self-employed workers and micro-companies with 0 to 2 employees, and joint-ownership entities and civil partnerships). The call for medium-sized companies — segments IV and V — had closed earlier, on 30 June 2025. Since then, the official Acelera Pyme site states it plainly: the Kit Digital calls have ended.
As of today, 21 August 2026, no application window is open. You cannot “apply for Kit Digital for AI” because you cannot apply for Kit Digital at all.
So where does the noise come from?
What the BOE says: Order TDF/39/2026
On 28 January 2026 the BOE published Order TDF/39/2026, the fifth amendment to the programme’s rules. It is a short text and it changes three specific things:
- It removes the expiry date. Article 4 now says the rules apply to grants “called from its entry into force and until the total exhaustion of the Kit Digital Programme funds”. There used to be a closed time horizon; now the door stays open for as long as there is money.
- It recycles leftovers. Red.es “will reinvest any unexecuted budget surplus, even after 2026” within the programme itself. Whatever is returned by companies that withdraw or fail to justify their spending does not go back to Brussels: it stays in Kit Digital.
- It mentions AI. The preamble cites three catalogue categories as a novelty: “Customer management with associated AI”, “Business Intelligence and analytics with associated AI” and “Process management with associated AI”.
Note the verb in the first point: grants “called”. The order enables new calls; it does not open any. And the three AI categories are not new in 2026: they debuted in the December 2024 call for medium-sized companies, reserved for segments IV (50 to 99 employees, €25,000 voucher) and V (100 to 249 employees, €29,000 voucher). For self-employed workers and small companies under 50 staff, AI has never been in the eligible catalogue.
The “€40 million for AI” is not a voucher either
In March 2026 the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and AI announced €40 million “to facilitate access for startups and SMEs to artificial intelligence use cases”. Many websites have blended it into Kit Digital. It has nothing to do with it.
That money is channelled through agreements with collaborating entities — business associations, technology centres, innovation support centres — which will develop sector-specific use cases and reusable models. SMEs will benefit from the results, but there is no counter where an SME can claim its share of those €40 million. If someone offers you one, be suspicious.
Summary in one table
| What you are told | What actually exists |
|---|---|
| ”Kit Digital 2026 open until funds run out” | Rules valid until funds run out; no call open since 31/10/2025 |
| ”AI voucher for freelancers and small businesses” | AI categories have only existed for companies with 50 to 249 employees |
| ”Reserve your spot now” | There is no official waiting list for a call that has not been published |
| ”€40 million so your SME can use AI” | Agreements with collaborating entities, not direct grants |
What to do in the meantime (without giving away your data)
No open call does not mean nothing is happening. Two things are happening, and both work in your favour if you act sensibly.
First: useful AI for an SME no longer costs what it used to. Automating invoice intake, sorting customer emails or generating quotes from a template are projects that today fit within a few thousand euros and pay for themselves in months. Waiting a year for a hypothetical voucher to save part of that usually costs more than the voucher. Our services page lists starting prices, no small print.
Second: if a call is published, whoever arrives prepared wins. Kit Digital has always been awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, not on merit. What you can get done today, at no cost:
- Keep your company’s digital certificate up to date and your registration with the Red.es e-office active.
- Check which segment you fall into by headcount (the AI category, if it is kept, has been for segments IV and V).
- Complete the Acelera Pyme digital self-assessment test, which has always been a prerequisite.
- Define which process you want to automate and what measurable result you expect. A grant pays for a solution; it does not decide which one you need.
And one piece of advice that goes against our own interest: if a company asks for your digital certificate “to manage your Kit” before a call exists, do not hand it over. The procedure is done by the beneficiary company or by a voluntary representative with clear powers, and only when there is something to process.
What we will do when something changes
We follow the BOE and the Red.es e-office. If a call is published that includes AI categories for SMEs, we will update this article with real deadlines, segments and amounts, linking to the official text. Until then, the honest answer to “can I pay for my AI project with Kit Digital?” is: not today.
If you have a specific process you want to automate, tell us about it: we will tell you whether it makes sense, what it costs and whether it is worth waiting for a grant or not. Sometimes the answer is that you do not need AI at all, and we will tell you that too.
Guidance only, as of 21 August 2026, based on the official texts linked above. It does not replace professional advice or checking the rules and calls directly at the Red.es e-office.