Jensen Huang urged German manufacturers to apply AI to industrial data and expertise, emphasizing robotics, manufacturing and other physical-world applications.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urged German manufacturers to adopt AI to strengthen the country’s industrial economy, speaking with Chancellor Friedrich Merz at an investment conference in Berlin on October 19. Huang argued that AI should augment Germany’s manufacturing capabilities rather than replace them, pointing to the country’s expertise in cars, robots and industrial machinery.
He described robotics, manufacturing, automobiles and heavy industry as the next wave of AI applications, where software interacts with the physical world. Huang also highlighted industrial data as a potential national asset, saying German companies could use AI to codify their accumulated expertise and improve how they design and operate products and factories.
The appeal focused in part on Germany’s Mittelstand: the many small and midsize firms that specialize in industrial sectors. Such companies often hold detailed process knowledge and operational data, but turning that material into useful AI systems requires investment, technical capacity and careful decisions about where data is stored and who controls it. Huang encouraged German firms to use AI technology while retaining their knowledge and values locally.
The remarks were a call to action, not an announcement of a new Nvidia product, customer deal or government program. They nonetheless reflect a broader push to move AI beyond text and image generation into manufacturing, robotics and other settings where models connect to machines and real-world processes. For Germany, the opportunity comes with challenges: Europe has concerns about dependence on U.S. technology providers, access to large-scale computing infrastructure and the protection of sensitive industrial data. Huang’s message was that AI could complement existing engineering strengths, but realizing that potential will require manufacturers to build practical capabilities and decide how to deploy the technology securely.