Germany signs an industrial AI declaration with Nvidia as Jensen Huang tells Chancellor Merz there is nothing to regulate if the industry does not thrive
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to Chancellor Merz: I've also heard you say that you want to find that balance between innovation and regulation. There's nothing to regulate if the industry doesn't thrive.
Context
Europe's largest economy is betting public policy on Nvidia to bring AI into its factories, and Huang is pressing it to go light on regulation.
Clash Report, a news aggregation account, posted a short clip from the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin. The October 15 deck covered a Handelsblatt report, relayed by Walter Bloomberg, that Germany was preparing this partnership, and the summit is where it was announced.
- NVIDIA blog: Germany wants to lead the world in industrial AI
- CNBC: German chancellor urges businesses to embrace AI as Nvidia announces new investments
- Reuters via Investing.com: Merz urges AI investment ahead of Nvidia deal
- Advance Intelligence: Handelsblatt reports Germany is preparing a major AI partnership with Nvidia
Deep dive
On October 19, Clash Report posted a clip of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang telling Chancellor Friedrich Merz that he had heard Merz wants to find a balance between innovation and regulation, and that there is nothing to regulate if the industry does not thrive.
The exchange came at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin. According to Nvidia's blog, Merz and two federal ministries signed a joint declaration of intent with Nvidia earlier that day to work on an initiative advancing AI models for physical AI, and to expand Nvidia's work with Germany's Industry 4.0 Platform of government, industry and research groups.
On stage, Merz urged Germany's small and medium sized companies, the Mittelstand, to open your doors for AI to make use of your data. Huang told the audience their industrial knowledge cannot be replaced and that AI can only augment it.
CNBC reported that Nvidia named four German startups as investment targets, Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace, as part of a nearly $10 billion commitment to Europe's AI ecosystem, without disclosing amounts, and that Siemens announced a wider partnership with Nvidia on autonomous factories. Reuters reported that Merz is under pressure to revive growth as support rises for the far right Alternative for Germany party.
The Handelsblatt report covered on October 15 had said hundreds of millions of euros in public money would back the partnership. The public coverage of the declaration did not give a figure.
What to expect next
Watch for the size of Germany's public funding and of Nvidia's investments in the four startups, neither of which has been disclosed. Also watch how the partnership fits with the EU's AI Act and its rules for AI systems, since Huang's remark pushes against tighter regulation. Merz said he wants regular meetings with Huang to check progress, which will be the next public signal of whether the initiative is moving.