The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space signed a declaration of intent with NVIDIA on Oct. 19 to develop AI models for German industry.
At a Berlin event with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged companies to let AI systems use their data, according to NVIDIA’s account. The government wants Plattform Industrie 4.0, a network of policymakers, businesses, researchers and trade groups, to help bring industrial AI to small and medium-sized companies.
The declaration calls for work on models for physical AI. Separately, the government described plans for specialized, open industrial AI models based on NVIDIA Nemotron and NVIDIA Cosmos. The public announcements gave no budget or delivery timetable for the initiative.
NVIDIA also plans to invest in Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace. It disclosed no amount for any of the four investments and described them as part of a nearly $10 billion commitment across Europe. The signing follows Handelsblatt’s earlier report of a proposed German industrial AI partnership.
At its Erlangen factory, Siemens is testing AI applications linked to NVIDIA. The company estimates that digital simulations could cut the engineering work needed to prepare production of new circuit boards by up to 85%. It says AI-assisted production planning could lower costs by up to 20%.
Business initiative Made for Germany estimates €2.9 trillion to €4.1 trillion in investment and financing potential through 2035 across AI, industry, energy, infrastructure and defense. That figure is an estimate of potential, not an investment pledge. Its 147 members separately plan to invest more than €850 billion in Germany from 2025 through 2028, including more than €200 billion already invested in 2025. The group cited high costs and regulatory burdens as obstacles to further investment.
The Invest in Germany Summit is scheduled to open Oct. 20 at 3:30 a.m. ET (07:30 UTC), with about 200 executives and investors expected.
