Jensen Huang Urges Germany to Use AI to “Re-engineer” Its Industry

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has urged German carmakers and industrial machinery manufacturers to quickly adopt artificial intelligence in order to “re-engineer” their struggling business model using manufacturing data and expertise.

Speaking at an investment conference in Berlin on Monday during a discussion with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Huang said that the next wave of AI is physical, involving robotics, manufacturing, automobiles and heavy industry. In his words, “electrons will never replace atoms,” while AI can only augment people’s capabilities.

Huang called Germany’s manufacturing data and expertise the country’s “natural resource” and urged haste, saying, “You have no other choice.” He also advised Germany to import AI technology but not to “export your culture, your values and your knowledge.”

Huang and Merz noted that AI also presents an opportunity for the “Mittelstand,” the hundreds of small and medium-sized companies in Germany.

Merz is struggling to revive economic growth amid a post-pandemic stagnation that has lasted for years. The main obstacles are high energy prices after the loss of Russian gas, Chinese competition in the auto industry, and excessive bureaucracy. Europe is also lagging behind the United States in the number of data centers and is concerned that sensitive data is exposed to the U.S. legal system.