At the Digital Summit in Berlin, the federal government's AI task force presented its first report. By 2030, AI computing capacity is to at least quadruple.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke at the federal government's Digital Summit in Berlin on 2 November. "We must, we want to become front-runners," he said with regard to artificial intelligence. AI must follow human values, he added. At the summit, the AI task force set up by the National Security Council in July presented its first report under the vision "AI Nation 2030".
According to Merz, AI computing capacity in Germany is to at least quadruple by 2030, backed by a national data centre strategy. According to Computerwoche, the chancellor wants to bring at least one AI gigafactory to Germany. Merz also pointed to more than 3,000 start-ups in the first half of 2026, with AI at the core of more than a third of them. The electrical industry and mechanical engineering were benefiting from the emerging robotics boom, he said.
18 measures by 2030
The task force is led by Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger. According to Computerwoche, its plan "Germany's path to AI nation 2030" comprises 18 measures in six fields of action. By 2030, at least 55 percent of small and medium-sized companies and 80 percent of large companies are to use AI, and the AI-based share of economic output is to exceed ten percent. At least 90 percent of federal authorities are then to use at least one AI application productively, with the state acting as an anchor customer. An AI safety institute is also planned.
Merz also said he had personally pushed at EU level for machine and industrial data not to face double regulation. On AI, the government is pursuing a dual strategy of industrially usable frontier models and research into world models and physical AI under the Hightech Agenda. Digital sovereignty does not mean autarky, he said, naming Canada among the partners. According to Computerwoche, Wildberger intends to review progress regularly and report on it publicly.