Insider Brief

• Germany signed an agreement with Nvidia to develop advanced AI models for industrial and physical AI as part of the federal government’s AI Roadmap and Industry 4.0 Platform.
• The initiative will focus on specialized open industrial AI models based on technologies including Nvidia Nemotron and Nvidia Cosmos, with the Industry 4.0 Platform serving as a central strategy network spanning infrastructure through applications.
• Nvidia will expand its work with German research institutions, industrial companies and small and midsize businesses, with the government aiming to broaden access to AI advances and strengthen Germany’s productivity, competitiveness and technological sovereignty.

Germany has signed an agreement with Nvidia to develop advanced AI models for industry and physical AI.

According to the government, the initiative will build on Germany’s industrial data, manufacturing expertise and engineering capabilities and will be part of the federal government’s AI Roadmap and Industry 4.0 Platform. The government said the goal is to promote advanced industrial AI adoption and establish an ecosystem in Europe involving German companies and research institutions.

A key part of the effort will be the Industry 4.0 Platform, a network of policymakers, industry representatives, researchers and associations, according to the government. The platform is being refocused around industrial AI and is intended to serve as a central strategy network covering areas from infrastructure through industrial applications. The government noted that the platform is open to companies and maintains collaborations with international partners.

The initiative also falls under the government’s High-Tech Agenda Germany AI Technology Roadmap, which includes support for advanced research and innovation with one focus being collaboration on specialized, open AI models for industrial use that are based on open models such as Nvidia Nemotron and Nvidia Cosmos.

In order to spread advances more widely among different sized companies and allow German SMEs to benefit from progress in AI, Nvidia will expand its existing work with German partners such as research institutions and industrial companies to include small and midsize businesses.

“With this step, the Federal Government underscores its goal of merging traditional German engineering and manufacturing expertise with cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art AI technology to safeguard Germany’s productivity, competitiveness, and technological sovereignty,” the government said.

The joint declaration of intent was signed at the Invest in Germany Summit by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz attending.