The Invest in Germany Summit opened on Monday in Berlin with a striking declaration from Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Addressing a crowd of roughly two hundred CEOs, financiers and sovereign investors, he urged the nation’s industrial base to treat artificial intelligence as a strategic resource and to let AI “use your data.” Merz framed the appeal as a response to a “fundamental economic and technological transformation” driven by rapid AI progress, positioning the summit as the launchpad for a series of high-profile deals.
At the centre of the announcement stood Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia. Together with Merz they presented a memorandum of understanding that formalises cooperation between the German federal government and the chipmaker. While the exact financial terms were left confidential, the partnership signals a multi-year commitment to embed Nvidia’s AI platforms into the country’s manufacturing, automotive and medical sectors. Huang highlighted existing collaborations with firms such as Mercedes-Benz, which is testing premium robotaxi services powered by Nvidia software, and promised to expand that model across other key industries.
Scale of the investment wave
Beyond the headline-grabbing Nvidia pact, a coalition of German corporations and investors – including Siemens and Deutsche Bank – released a projection that could reshape the nation’s fiscal landscape. Their analysis estimates up to €4.1 trillion ($4.6 trillion) of cumulative investment by 2035 across AI, energy and defence. Part of that sum is expected to flow from private-sector initiatives: the “Made for Germany” consortium announced plans to inject more than €850 billion by the end of 2028, building on a €200 billion outlay recorded in 2025.
In parallel, Nvidia disclosed a targeted euro-investment in four German startups: Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo AI and Reflex Aerospace. Each company operates at the intersection of AI and a traditional German industry—manufacturing robotics, hospital workflow software, AI-generated audio for media, and satellite production respectively. Although the precise capital allocation was not disclosed, the move aligns with Nvidia’s broader European strategy, which earmarks roughly $10 billion for partnerships with universities, research institutes and tech firms across the continent.
Industrial reaction and early results
German industry leaders reacted positively to the AI push. Siemens, for instance, unveiled a new AI-driven production-planning tool on the summit’s second day, claiming an 85 percent reduction in engineering effort and a 20 percent cost saving at its Erlangen plant. The demonstration underscored Huang’s claim that AI will “augment, not replace,” Germany’s renowned manufacturing expertise. Merz echoed this sentiment, urging small and midsize enterprises to “open the door to AI so it can use your data,” arguing that the existing data sets held by firms constitute the nation’s “real secret and strength.”
The summit’s atmosphere blended high-tech optimism with palpable pressure on the chancellor. Domestic political dynamics, notably the rising influence of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), have sharpened scrutiny of economic performance. By courting billions in foreign capital and showcasing tangible AI deployments, Merz aims to counteract that narrative and present a forward-looking growth story.
Stakeholders at the event—including figures such as BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Bank of America’s Bernard Mensah and Kuwait’s sovereign fund representative Sheikh Saoud Al-Sabah—were invited to translate rhetoric into concrete capital commitments. Organizers expect the summit to generate a “three-digit-billion-euro” inflow, a benchmark highlighted by participants monitoring the event’s success. If achieved, the influx would provide a significant boost to Germany’s lagging economic momentum and reinforce Berlin’s positioning as a European AI hub.
