Germany plans AI pact with Nvidia as Merz hosts investment summit
Germany's economy and research ministries plan a letter of intent with the U.S. chipmaker, Handelsblatt reports, focusing on AI for robots and factories.
Germany's government and U.S. chipmaker Nvidia plan to work together to bring artificial intelligence into German industry. The Handelsblatt business daily reported on a joint letter of intent, to be implemented mainly by the economy and research ministries; the cooperation is to be announced at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz is hosting about 200 chief executives. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is the headline guest. The main conference day is Tuesday.
The focus is on so-called physical AI, such as training robots and autonomous vehicles, and on models that simulate production steps or entire factory operations. The cooperation is to build on Germany's Plattform Industrie 4.0 network, and a task force is planned, according to Handelsblatt. The paper says AI is essential for industry's long-term competitiveness.
According to Handelsblatt, the government is prepared to provide start-up funding in the hundreds of millions of euros, and about a dozen companies including Siemens, Audi and Black Forest Labs intend to take part. On digital sovereignty, Huang told broadcaster ZDF that control over data and applications matters more than who builds the hardware.