Nvidia CEO meets German Chancellor to launch AI partnership

At the Invest in Germany summit in Berlin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss a new AI cooperation. The meeting took place on 19 October 2026, according to Euronews and Der Spiegel. The event was covered by multiple German outlets, including FAZ.

During the meeting, the parties announced a joint AI pact aimed at speeding up the integration of AI products across German industry. The pact is intended to build on the Sovereign Open Source Foundation Models initiative, an alliance dedicated to developing powerful open‑source AI systems. The German government will commit hundreds of millions of euros to the initiative, as reported by Euronews.

The funding will primarily be used to purchase computing capacity in Deutsche Telekom's Industrial AI Cloud. That cloud is equipped with Nvidia's latest Blackwell hardware, according to Euronews. The investment is expected to make Germany a more attractive destination for innovation and technological development.

Around ten established German companies are expected to take part in the partnership. The companies include Siemens, Audi, and the start‑up Black Forest Labs, as noted by all three sources. Nvidia has a history of collaboration with German firms, including a partnership with Crytek in 2000 and a project with Audi in 2005.

The cooperation aims to accelerate the digital transformation of German industry, especially the Mittelstand, and to secure the country's technological sovereignty. Merz emphasized that the partnership would strengthen the German economy and that the country should open its industrial data for AI applications, according to Der Spiegel. Huang urged policymakers to remove political brakes that he said were hindering progress, as reported by FAZ.