Chancellor Merz Urges German Businesses to Adopt AI
Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on German companies to embrace artificial intelligence to modernize industry during a Berlin summit featuring major investment pledges from Nvidia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged domestic businesses to embrace artificial intelligence to modernize industry and revive the national economy during an industry summit in Berlin on October 19. Merz stated that Germany is in the midst of a fundamental economic and technological transformation fueled by exponential progress in AI, calling on companies to open their doors for AI to make use of their data.
The summit coincided with a partnership between Germany and U.S. chip maker Nvidia. The German economy ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the company to promote AI across German industry. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced planned investments in German startups Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo, and Reflex Aerospace as part of a nearly $10 billion commitment to the European technology ecosystem.
Private sector investment plans were also detailed during the event. The business group Made for Germany reported plans to invest over €850 billion through 2028. Additionally, a separate group including Siemens and Deutsche Bank identified potential investment opportunities of up to €4.1 trillion in Germany by 2035, spanning the AI, energy, and defense sectors.
