NVIDIA Expands German AI Partnerships and Startup Investments

Germany is strengthening its push to integrate artificial intelligence into manufacturing through expanded cooperation with NVIDIA, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz and CEO Jensen Huang outlined plans in Berlin on October 19, 2026. The initiative combines Germany's engineering expertise with advanced AI research to accelerate industrial automation and establish the country as a global leader in industrial AI.

According to NVIDIA, the German federal government, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with the company during the Invest in Germany Summit. The agreement establishes a framework for developing advanced AI models for physical AI and expanding industrial AI adoption.

The collaboration will also build on Germany's Industry 4.0 Platform, which brings together representatives from government, industry, research institutions, and trade associations. The stated objective is to establish a comprehensive industrial AI ecosystem across Europe.

Huang described a future in which companies operate physical production facilities alongside digital counterparts. These digital twins would simulate factories, vehicles, and robotic systems, allowing manufacturers to develop and test production processes virtually before deploying them in physical environments.

"Every single company in the future will have two factories: the factory that is real, and the factory that is digital, and the factory that is digital will be so real that it might as well be real. If it manifests itself when you create the digital twin of your company—of your car company—that digital twin might as well be real. And so in the future, I believe that most people here in Germany will mostly work inside a digital twin of their company.

They will build digital cars. Those cars will have digital brains. The manufacturing—the factories—will have digital, of course artificial intelligence, robots, building inside a robotic factory, building cars that will be robotic.

And everything will be completely software-driven. Everything will be completely AI-driven. So every company will build two things: they will build brains, and the brains that go into the products that they ship."

Huang said.

NVIDIA's Omniverse technology supports digital-twin applications by simulating industrial environments and robotic operations. The approach allows companies to evaluate virtual production systems and transfer validated workflows to physical facilities.

Merz said Germany intends to become one of the world's most advanced countries in industrial AI, emphasizing opportunities across manufacturing, machinery, automotive production, and component suppliers.

"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," Merz said.

He also highlighted the Mittelstand, Germany's network of small and medium-sized businesses, as a major competitive advantage. Merz encouraged these companies to make greater use of their existing data to support AI adoption and industrial innovation.

Huang argued that AI would strengthen rather than eliminate the value of Germany's accumulated industrial expertise.

"That knowledge belongs to you," Huang said.

He continued by emphasizing that AI should serve as a tool for extending existing capabilities rather than replacing them.

"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." Huang said.

As part of its broader European investment commitment of nearly $10 billion, NVIDIA announced planned investments in four additional German startups: Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo, and Reflex Aerospace.

Munich-based Agile Robots develops AI-powered robotic systems for manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. Avelios Medical, also based in Munich, builds an AI-native hospital information system designed to integrate clinical and administrative workflows.

Mirelo develops AI models that generate sound effects, speech, and music for video content. Berlin-based Reflex Aerospace designs and builds satellites, with a development process intended to make spacecraft ready for launch in approximately 12 months rather than years.

NVIDIA has also supported German technology companies including n8n, Neura Robotics, and Black Forest Labs as part of its investment activity across the country's startup ecosystem.

Separately, Siemens announced a partnership with NVIDIA to advance AI-driven autonomous manufacturing. At its Erlangen factory, Siemens demonstrated virtual production ramp-up technology that can reduce engineering effort by up to 85%, while agent-based production planning can deliver cost savings of up to 20%, according to NVIDIA.

NVIDIA researchers also used JUPITER, Europe's largest supercomputer at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, to simulate a fault-tolerant quantum computer with 104 qubits. NVIDIA described the simulation as the largest and most detailed of its kind to date.