Germany launches AI offensive in bid to close global tech gap

Germany is preparing to significantly accelerate its deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2030 in an effort to strengthen Europe’s largest economy and narrow the innovation gap with global leaders, according to a draft strategy obtained by Reuters.

The document outlines Berlin’s ambition to boost AI's contribution to national economic output to 10% by the end of the decade, Caliber.Az reports.

It also emphasises the importance of AI in key research sectors and positions the technology as a vital driver of future competitiveness.

"With an AI offensive, we want to generate 10% of our economic output based on AI by 2030 and make AI an important tool in central fields of research," states the German Research Ministry’s draft paper.

With the United States, China and India currently dominating AI development, the European Union is under growing pressure to catch up. Economists warn that Germany must act swiftly to integrate AI across sectors or risk losing industrial competitiveness.

The Cologne-based IW Institute reported earlier this year that AI could lift German productivity by 0.9% annually between 2025 and 2030, rising to 1.2% in the following decade—well above the current average of 0.4%.

The federal cabinet is expected to approve the AI strategy later this month, which also includes plans to construct high-performance computing centres, or "AI gigafactories", with support from €20 billion in EU funding. Germany aims to have at least one of these centres on home soil by 2027. Industry stakeholders, including Deutsche Telekom, are reportedly interested.

The strategy further sets a target to advance quantum computing capabilities, calling for two “error-corrected quantum computers” to be operational by 2030. Additionally, Germany’s first quantum communication research satellite is due to be launched within the year.

While the country has demonstrated early promise in AI innovation, the document acknowledges shortcomings in commercial application:

"This creates competitive disadvantages and dependencies," it notes, stressing the need for closer ties between AI research and traditional industrial strengths such as robotics, automotive, mechanical engineering, and the chemical sector.

By Aghakazim Guliyev