Federal Government agrees on AI cooperation with Nvidia

Germany and US chip giant Nvidia have agreed to cooperate on the development of artificial intelligence. The agreement was announced at the first "Invest in Germany" summit - and is intended to strengthen German competitiveness. The Federal Government and the technology group Nvidia have agreed on closer cooperation to promote the industrial use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Germany. It is agreed to “drive an initiative to develop state-of-the-art AI models for physical AI” – AI that will be integrated into physical systems such as robots. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Research have signed a corresponding letter of intent with the US chip group, said the federal government on the occasion of the first "Invest in Germany" summit in Berlin. 'The aim is to systematically bring industrial AI into widespread use and establish a state-of-the-art AI ecosystem in Europe.' For this purpose, Nvidia will expand its cooperation with German partners, it said. In the future, the Group will make its AI models accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises and research institutions in addition to large-scale industry. As Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reaffirmed on the sidelines of the event, the combination of classic engineering knowledge with modern technology is intended to secure Germany’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. Merz stressed that Germany, despite the current geopolitical and economic challenges, is acting from a position of strength. The Chancellor underlined the strategic importance of maintaining the industrial base, which he sees as a decisive advantage over other economies. He called on companies to open their valuable industrial data to AI applications in order to maintain the competitiveness of German manufacturing, mechanical engineering and the automotive industry. Concerning possible investments within the framework of the cooperation, the Federal Government initially provided no information. According to a media report, he wants to support the project with a three-digit million amount. Among other things, the money should serve to lease computing capacities in Deutsche Telekom’s AI cloud. Huang: Understanding data as a national resource Huang, who has led Nvidia since 1993, underlined his company’s trust in Germany as a business location. According to its own data, the company invested nearly one billion dollars in Germany last year and is involved in numerous German companies. The CEO argued that data should be understood as a national resource that should not be exported, but used domestically to develop its own "national intelligence". Huang warned people and businesses in Germany against giving up their knowledge and cultural values in order to buy them back later as imported intelligence. Instead, the AI should serve to complement and scale the existing expertise of the German engineers, rather than replace it. Merz had previously opened the two-day international investment summit in Berlin. The aim of the Federal Government is to attract more private investors to Germany. At the summit, about 200 business leaders from home and abroad were expected, including Huang, who spoke to Merz on stage in the evening. “We are in the midst of fundamental economic and technological change,” Merz said. This is driven by AI. Merz reaffirmed the reform course of the Federal Government. He mentioned the reduction of bureaucratic hurdles, the digitalization of administration and reforms of social systems. With regard to the state’s billion-euro assets for infrastructure modernization and climate protection, Merz said that Germany is undertaking the largest modernization offensive in its recent history. He also emphasized massive increases in defense spending. At EU level, the development of the internal market will be promoted. The investment summit is an invitation for investors to participate in the modernization offensive. The investment summit will continue on Tuesday. In addition to the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil and Minister of Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche will also be there.