At Rise of AI 2025 in Berlin, Dr. Tina Klüwer, Director of AI Strategy at what she describes as Germany's federal ministry for research, technology and space (renamed from the education and research ministry the week before the talk), argues Germany suffers from a persistent gap between invention and innovation. She cites rankings placing Germany third worldwide in AI research publications, sixth in patents, ninth in AI startups and twelfth in enterprise AI adoption, calling this the German or European paradox: strong basic research, weaker commercialization. She describes a policy shift from funding research alone toward supporting businesses that adopt and build AI, including four regional AI service centers for SMEs and two EuroHPC AI factories built in Germany. She also previews a planned EU AI gigafactory initiative with up to five facilities across Europe, each with about 100,000 GPUs, for which Germany is seeking to be a host. A lively Q&A covers energy consumption, ministerial coordination, public trust and whether Germany is too late to the infrastructure race.
Key takeaways
- Klüwer places Germany third in AI research publications but only ninth in AI startups and twelfth in enterprise AI adoption.
- She attributes the gap to what she calls the German or European paradox: strong invention, weaker innovation and commercialization.
- Germany has built two EuroHPC AI factories, in Stuttgart and Jülich, with half their capacity reserved for SMEs, enterprises and startups rather than research alone.
- The planned EU AI gigafactory initiative envisions up to five facilities with roughly 100,000 GPUs each, and Germany is seeking to host one.
- Klüwer cites the Stanford AI Index to say German public acceptance of AI rose by 10 percentage points year over year.
Detailed notes
Germany's track record: strong invention, weaker innovation
Klüwer opens with well-known German inventions, from aspirin and the printing press to MP3 and the coffee filter, and the origin of Barbie in a doll based on a Bild newspaper comic that Ruth Handler saw in Europe. She argues Germany still holds a reputation abroad as a country of 'poets and thinkers' as well as engineers, but that this creative reputation does not automatically translate into commercial success in AI today.
From publications to commercialization: where Germany ranks
Klüwer cites Germany as the world's third-largest economy and third in AI research publications, behind the US and China. It ranks sixth in patents, ninth in the number of AI startups, and twelfth in enterprise AI adoption rate. Among the most-used AI websites by monthly visits, she notes ChatGPT ranks first and, to her surprise, Canva second, while the first German tool, DeepL, ranks thirteenth. She calls the pattern of ranking well in research but progressively worse further down the innovation pipeline the German or European paradox.
Shifting focus toward business adoption
Using the technology readiness level framework, she places Germany strong in basic research (levels 1-3) and reasonably solid in development within large enterprises (levels 4-6), but weaker in deployment and commercialization (levels 7-9). She describes a policy shift toward supporting businesses that use, adopt and create AI, including joint industry-research transfer projects and four regional AI service centers that give SMEs access to compute, GPUs, inferencing and AI expertise, while also functioning as regional talent hubs near universities.
Building compute: AI factories and the planned gigafactory
Germany has built two EuroHPC AI factories: Hammerhai in Stuttgart, focused on engineering and industrial HPC, and one in Jülich offering training and inference of foundation models for science, business and society. Klüwer previews a planned EU AI gigafactory initiative, part of the European Commission's AI Continent Action Plan, envisioning up to five gigafactories across Europe with around 100,000 GPUs each, roughly four times the size of the Jupiter exascale computer, alongside EUR200 billion earmarked more broadly to boost AI development. Germany is in discussions to host one; unlike the research-first AI factories, gigafactories are dedicated primarily to industry.
Q&A highlights
Asked about the gigafactory's location, Klüwer says the decision rests with the lead industry consortium, not the ministry, with several German states interested. Dell's AI CTO notes that half of the AI factories' capacity is reserved for SMEs, enterprises and startups rather than research, and that EU sites must federate compute and data across borders. On cross-ministry coordination, Klüwer agrees more is needed and distinguishes digitizing public administration from enabling AI innovation. On energy, she says efficiency is a funding condition and cites Jülich's exascale chip as among the ten most energy-efficient worldwide. Citing the Stanford AI Index, she notes German public acceptance of AI rose by 10 percentage points year over year. Asked if Germany is too late on compute infrastructure, she concedes it was not first but says the best time to act was yesterday, and now is also a good time.
Quotes
We're very good at inventions, but we are not that strong at innovation.
Tina Klüwer
Best time was yesterday. Now is also a good time.
Tina Klüwer
There's no option for not getting into the race now.
Tina Klüwer
Questions answered in this talk
Why is Germany strong in AI research but weaker in AI commercialization?
According to Dr. Tina Klüwer at Rise of AI 2025, Germany ranks third worldwide in AI research publications but only ninth in AI startups and twelfth in enterprise AI adoption, a pattern she calls the German or European paradox of strong invention but weaker innovation.
What do Germany's regional AI service centers do?
Klüwer describes four regional AI service centers that give small and medium businesses access to AI compute, GPUs, inferencing and expertise, while also acting as regional talent hubs located close to universities.
What is the planned EU AI gigafactory initiative?
Per Klüwer, it is part of the European Commission's AI Continent Action Plan, planning up to five gigafactories across Europe with around 100,000 GPUs each, about four times the size of the Jupiter exascale computer, with Germany seeking to host one.