The German government already launched an AI strategy in 2018 aimed at continually stepping up investment in this key technology. Building on this, the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) presented an “Artificial Intelligence Action Plan” in November 2023 that identifies eleven central areas of action: from funding centres of AI excellence to the expansion of computing capacity. The BMBF alone will be investing more than 1.6 billion euros in AI in the current legislative period until the next Bundestag elections in 2025.
For Germany to hold a top-class position, research at universities, non-university research organisations and companies is vital. According to the Action Plan, Germany and Europe are world leaders in this field. This is based on key indicators such as the number of AI publications and citations, and the country’s contributions to the development of open-source AI software: in these terms, Germany regularly ranks among the best five or six nations.
One outstanding example of the connection between basic and applied research is Cyber Valley in Stuttgart and Tübingen, Europe’s leading centre for excellent research and innovation in artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art robotics. Tech companies work closely with universities and research institutions there.
Top Talent from Abroad
The Tübingen AI Centre has become an established address and is considered as one of Europe's strongest research clusters in the field of machine learning. “We now have a whole host of very high-calibre research scientists here who have come to us from top institutes abroad,” explains Philipp Hennig, Professor of Methods of Machine Learning at the University of Tübingen. “Many of the best international students are often in the position to choose whichever leading university they want to go to, so that can be a reason for some of them to come to us.”
Varied AI research
While the Tübingen AI Center focuses on developing socalled ‘robust learning systems’ or learning algorithms whichcan successfully deal with unexpected external influences, the five other competence centres each are focusing on a different aspect of AI research. The centre which takes the broadest approach is the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, which has sites in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen and Berlin.
Research scientists from 60 countries work there on a wide range of application cases for AI. The Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence is working on the areas of work, health and mobility and is researching new approaches to human-machine interaction.
Scientists at the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD) are particularly interested in the question of how to design complex AI systems in a more transparent way. “This is one of the essential conditions for the level of trust we can place in these systems, and ultimately for the success they enjoy in the market,” explains Dr Jack Thoms, Managing Director at BIFOLD.
The Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Dresden/ Leipzig is concentrating on how to create new computer infrastructure which can process data more efficiently. The sixth AI centre in the consortium is the LAMARR Institute at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, which is digging into strategies to transfer research into business.
AI in the Economy
Transferring research into practice is something where more and more German companies are making a significant contribution. Bosch, for example, has set up its own research department for AI, with around 100 AI research scientists working at their main office in Reutlingen near Stuttgart.
“Every year we fund around 40 PhD students at German universities. They carry out their research right here with us and can use our resources,” explains Dr Michael Pfeiffer, head of AI research at Bosch.
“Above all, outstanding AI researchneeds computing horsepower. As a business, we’re investing in that on a massive scale,” he says, adding that the investments are also paying off in terms of attracting skilled AI professionals. “We have a high rate of AI experts who stayon with us after completing their PhDs,” Pfeiffer says.