In order to boost the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Germany, the new AI Action Plan is aiming to ensure that the country continues to be competitive in this area globally.

Germany has had an AI strategy at the federal level since 2018 and has significantly increased the related investment as a result. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)'s annual budget for AI has increased more than twenty-fold between 2017 and today.

The BMBF is currently funding research, development, and application of AI, as part of 50 ongoing measures focussing on research, skills development, infrastructure development and transfer to application. These are now being supplemented by at least 20 further initiatives in a targeted manner. In the current legislative period, the BMBF alone will invest over EUR 1.6 billion in AI.

Building on this, the BMBF is taking its commitment to AI to the next level with the AI Action Plan. The goal of the Action Plan is to give new impetus to the German AI ecosystem and in particular its interface with education, science, research, and industry. With the AI Action Plan, the BMBF has identified eleven specific fields of action in which there is the most urgent need for action. More information are available in the press release (in German).