黄仁勋与德国总理默茨柏林峰会推工业AI，经济部与英伟达签MoU并重申对欧生态投资

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urged German businesses to embrace AI at an industry summit in Berlin on October 19, aiming to revive the economy and modernize industry. Huang specifically called on Germany's automotive and industrial machinery sectors to adopt physical AI by leveraging the country's extensive manufacturing data and expertise.

Credit: DIGITIMES
According to Reuters and European Interest , Huang said the next wave of AI will be physical AI, the field in which AI interacts with the physical world, including robotics, manufacturing, automotive, and heavy industry. Germany's manufacturing expertise is a valuable resource, he said, but the country needs to make better use of AI.
Merz said Germany is undergoing a fundamental economic and technological transformation driven by the exponential progress of AI. He urged business leaders to open their doors to AI and make good use of their data.
Merz said cooperation with Nvidia is crucial to Germany's future success. Huang pointed to Nvidia's existing partnerships with German automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, which is using Nvidia software to develop advanced robotaxis.
Germany and Nvidia are expected to announce a partnership at the summit to promote the use of AI in German industry. The German government said its Ministry of Economic Affairs had signed a memorandum of understanding with the company, but disclosed no further details.
European leaders, including Merz, recognize AI as a potential engine of growth while also worrying about excessive dependence on US technology giants.
In a post published on the Nvidia Blog on October 19, Huang also announced plans to invest in German startups Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo, and Reflex Aerospace. He said the investments form part of Nvidia's commitment to invest nearly US$10 billion to support the technology ecosystem across Europe.
Nvidia's German footprint
Nvidia's ties to German industry predate the new agreement. The company said it invested nearly US$1 billion in Germany last year and holds stakes in numerous startups and established companies, according to Der Tagesspiegel . Huang told ZDFheute that Nvidia already works with companies including Siemens, Audi, and Mercedes.
That presence includes the Industrial AI Cloud in Munich, which Deutsche Telekom built with Nvidia under a partnership valued at EUR1 billion (US$1.2 billion). The facility houses up to 10,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, and Telekom said it would raise Germany's AI computing capacity by roughly 50%. Among its first users is Agile Robots, one of the four startups Nvidia now plans to invest in.
Nvidia's reach also extends onto the factory floor. In January 2026, Siemens and Nvidia expanded their partnership to build what they call an industrial AI operating system, with the Siemens Electronics Factory in Erlangen slated to become the first site to apply the approach in 2026 and serve as a blueprint for fully AI-driven, adaptive manufacturing.
Automakers and suppliers are following a similar path. BMW Group is building plant-scale digital twins with Nvidia Omniverse, Mercedes-Benz is using the platform to optimize assembly lines, and Schaeffler is adopting Nvidia's physical AI stack for factory planning and robot training across more than 100 plants.
AI adoption in industry
Across the wider economy, AI use is spreading quickly but unevenly. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 26% of companies with at least 10 employees used AI in 2025, up from 20% in 2024 and 12% in 2023. Adoption reached 57% among companies with more than 250 employees, but only 23% among those with 10 to 49.
A broader survey by the ifo Institute put the share of companies using AI at 54.5%, up from 40.9% a year earlier. In manufacturing, the figure reached 58.7%, with AI gaining ground in production-related areas such as quality control, production planning, and maintenance.
That growth has come at a cost for some. In a Bitkom survey of 604 companies published in March 2026, 33% of AI users said the technology had proven more expensive than expected, and 19% said they had cut jobs because of AI.
Public sentiment
Beyond the workplace, AI is becoming part of daily life in Germany. A Bitkom survey published in April 2026 found that 34% of people use AI at least once a week and 15% use it daily. Concerns remain widespread, however: half of respondents worried about the spread of misinformation, and only 11% said they had no concerns about AI at all.
Views on the labor market are gloomier still. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in spring 2026, 51% of German adults said they expect AI to lead to fewer jobs in the country over the next 20 years, while only 4% expected more.
Opposition concerns
The Nvidia partnership and the wider summit have also drawn criticism from Germany's opposition parties. The Left Party (Die Linke), which hosted its own conference on economic and infrastructure investment on the summit's opening day, warned that the government is prepared to meet investors' far-reaching demands without regard for the consequences, according to ZDFheute . "The summit is only a good signal for BlackRock and co.," said Lizzy Schubert, who represents the party on the Bundestag's finance committee.
Schubert said what matters for the Nvidia partnership is whether it holds up over the long term. She cited Intel's failed plan to build a plant in Saxony-Anhalt as evidence that privileged partnerships with individual corporations cannot replace an industrial policy strategy.
The Greens, meanwhile, focused on economic security. A Greens parliamentary inquiry revealed that at least two executives from Chinese companies were on the summit's guest list, according to Handelsblatt . Sandra Detzer, a Greens economic policy lawmaker, said the invitations showed that economic security was poorly handled under Economy Minister Katherina Reiche. "That is not a strategy, that is disorientation," she said.
The summit also comes amid the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Facing global competition targeting the country's leading automotive, chemical, and engineering firms, Merz is under pressure to secure growth as support for the AfD grows, Reuters reported.