US tech giant Nvidia Corp and Deutsche Telekom AG today said a one-billion-euro (US$1.1 billion) industrial artificial intelligence (AI) hub would soon be launched in Germany, Europe's latest bid to catch up in the global AI race.
The center will enable companies in Europe, from major organizations to start-ups, to use AI in processes ranging from design to robotics via "secure" IT infrastructure on the continent, Germany's biggest telecoms operator said.
The move marks an attempt by Europe to make up lost ground in the battle for AI dominance, with the US and China currently in the lead.
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Photo: Lisi Niesner, Reuters
It also comes amid a growing focus in Europe on so-called "data sovereignty" — ensuring citizens' and industrial data is stored at home, where it can be protected under local laws, rather than handed over to foreign tech firms.
"Germany's engineering and industrial strengths are legendary, and now it's being supercharged by AI," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said at a Berlin launch event for the project, which is due to go live in the first quarter of next year.
Industry in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is especially concerned about speeding up the adoption of AI to ensure it can keep pace internationally.
Deutsche Telekom chief executive officer Timotheus Hoettges said that "AI is a huge opportunity" at a time Germany, which has been mired in recession for two years, was facing challenges. "It will help to improve our products."
The center, based in the southern city of Munich, will be powered by thousands of Nvidia's advanced AI chips and provide about 50 percent more power for AI in Germany, according to Deutsche Telekom.
The telecommunications operator is providing the physical infrastructure while German firm SAP AG is supplying the software platforms, including AI technologies, to run the site.
The center will "guarantee the highest standards of data protection, security and reliability," Deutsche Telekom said.
German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG, a partner in the project, said it would use the new center to boost its own AI capabilities and to offer enhanced software services to clients.
Its customers like auto giants Mercedes-Benz AG and BMW AG will be able to conduct complex AI-powered simulations to help develop their vehicles, Siemens said.
Europe has in recent times stepped up its AI efforts. The continent's fastest supercomputer Jupiter was inaugurated in September in Germany, with researchers saying it could boost efforts to train AI models.
Worries about "data sovereignty" and particularly an overreliance on US tech giants have escalated since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House this year.
Ties have frayed between the US and Europe across a range of issues, including EU tech regulations, which Trump has repeatedly criticized. In September, SAP called on Europe to catch up with the US and build up its digital capabilities, stressing it was important that firms on the continent could rely on local IT services.
"We cannot wait five years," SAP board member Thomas Saueressig said. "Europe is far behind."
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