Government-Backed Program Seeks 1,500 Applicants To Build AI Businesses Across Australia
SMB Tech reports on the government-backed Pathfinder program's push to sign up 1,500 applicants to build AI businesses.
By Nick Ross ยท First published by SMB Tech. Summarised here by SMEC AI.
In brief
SMB Tech reported on 14 September 2026 that a government-backed program was seeking 1,500 applicants to build AI businesses across Australia. The program is AI Pathfinder, run by SMEC AI with funding through the Australian Government's AI Adopt program. Free, in this case, means the cohort itself does not charge the founder. It does not mean every later product build is paid for by the government. SMEC AI's account is that the call for applicants was about people who will start an AI business, not about a grant paid out as cash. That intake has closed.
Original byline: Nick Ross.