Germany’s federal government has signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with NVIDIA to advance cutting-edge AI models for industrial physical AI, with the agreement concluded at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang set out the terms at Kraftwerk, a former power station in the city. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space signed alongside Merz.
The declaration formalises and expands NVIDIA’s collaboration with the federal government and its Industry 4.0 Platform, which draws representatives from politics, industry, research, and trade associations.
Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany, said: “We are fully committed to be one of the most advanced places in the world, not just in the European Union, but in the world to work with AI, to integrate AI into our industry.”
The government’s stated goal is to “systematically bring industrial AI into widespread use and to establish a state-of-the-art industrial AI ecosystem in Europe.” The declaration commits both parties to a joint initiative on cutting-edge models for physical AI, and the federal government frames the work as a merger of traditional German engineering and manufacturing expertise with AI research.
Huang traced NVIDIA’s work with German industry from gaming systems, workstations, and automotive design in the early 2000s through to current partnerships in autonomous vehicle development and digital twins for manufacturing.
Digital twin and world model research has also drawn enterprise interest beyond NVIDIA’s own partner list. Autonomous transport programmes in Germany have expanded in parallel, including autonomous trucking work involving Lidl .
Merz called out leaders of small and medium-sized businesses, the Mittelstand, in the audience. He argued that their accumulated operating data is the country’s principal advantage in the technology.
“The biggest advantage we have in Germany is our so-called Mittelstand,” Merz said. “Please open your doors for AI to make use of your data. This is a real secret and a real advantage for Germany to make use of all the data which is already available in our companies.”
Huang praised German manufacturing expertise across large and small companies, alongside its strength in mathematics and science, and argued that AI amplifies rather than replaces that base.
“That knowledge belongs to you,” Huang said. “It cannot be replaced. AI can only augment your capability, it will not replace your capability. Take advantage of the technology. It’s a new instrument.”
He described the effect across industries as a new industrial revolution, and returned to the Chancellor’s framing of the moment.
“This industrial revolution is so mighty, so powerful,” Huang said. “In the Chancellor’s words, you are re-engineering Germany. This is your chance to do it well.”
Huang announced planned investments in four German startups: Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo, and Reflex Aerospace. The commitments form part of a nearly $10 billion NVIDIA pledge to support companies, universities, and research institutions across Europe. NVIDIA has already invested in n8n, Neura Robotics, and Black Forest Labs.
Agile Robots, based in Munich, builds AI-powered robots ranging from robotic arms to its Agile ONE humanoid for manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. Avelios Medical, also in Munich, is developing an AI-native hospital information system intended as the core system of record for clinical and administrative workflows.
Mirelo builds models that generate sound effects, speech, and music for video. Reflex Aerospace, a Berlin space scaleup, designs satellites it says can be ready for launch in about 12 months rather than years.
Siemens announced a partnership with NVIDIA to advance AI-driven, autonomous factories, and showcased new AI solutions at its Erlangen factory, described as a global blueprint for autonomous manufacturing.
The company presented figures for a fully virtual production ramp-up reducing engineering effort by up to 85 percent, and for agent-based production planning enabling more adaptive manufacturing with cost savings of up to 20 percent.
Both numbers were issued as vendor claims rather than third-party benchmark results, and both are stated as maximums of up to 85 percent and up to 20 percent. The announcement does not set out baselines, test conditions, or measurement methods behind either figure.
NVIDIA researchers used JUPITER, Europe’s largest supercomputer, at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre to run a 104-qubit simulation of a fault-tolerant quantum computer. NVIDIA described the run as the largest and most detailed simulation of its kind to date.
Merz also proposed a recurring meeting with Huang to review the country’s progress.
“I would like to see him regularly, let’s say at least once a year, and discuss the progress we made,” Merz said, “And see a guy sitting in my office being extremely happy about Germany as a place to invest.”
Learn more about physical AI at the Physical AI Expo in California, Amsterdam, and London.
See also: Council for Science and Technology urges UK AI sovereignty plan
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