Germany: the Bundesrat approves the Federal Experimentation Act for regulatory sandboxes, and the Agentic AI Hub starts with 38 municipalities

Germany: the Bundesrat approves the Federal Experimentation Act for regulatory sandboxes, and the Agentic AI Hub starts with 38 municipalities

2 October 2026 — Germany's Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation (BMDS) announced two steps in a week that matter to technology companies selling to, or testing products with, the German public sector.

Not yet independently verified. This rests on the ministry’s own press releases; no independent report was checked. The ministry does not state when the Federal Experimentation Act enters into force. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The Federal Experimentation Act

On 25 September 2026 the Bundesrat approved the Bundeserprobungsgesetz (Federal Experimentation Act), the core of a law to strengthen Germany as a place for innovation through freedom to experiment. The Bundestag passed it on 25 June 2026. According to the ministry, the law:

• makes it easier to approve time-limited real-world trials (Reallabore, regulatory sandboxes) of new technologies and business models;
• requires that what is learned in trials feeds back to legislators;
• adds a general experimentation clause that lets authorities test simpler or faster administrative and permit procedures, for example using AI or merging process steps, and to depart from administrative-law rules while they do.

For companies, this is the legal basis for proposing a sandbox trial with a federal authority, rather than waiting for rules to change first.

The Agentic AI Hub, round two

On 1 October 2026 the ministry started the second round of its Agentic AI Hub, which pilots AI agents in municipal administration. It pairs 17 start-ups with 38 municipalities, more than in the first round, chosen from nearly 400 applications. The ministry reports that in the first round some projects cut application processing time by more than 90 percent, from several weeks to a few hours.

What to do

• Companies with products blocked by rules written for older technology in Germany (mobility, energy, health, fintech, govtech): prepare a sandbox proposal for when the act is in force, with what you would test, for how long, and what data you would share with the authority.
• Vendors selling to German local government: selection for this round is closed, but participating municipalities will be early buyers; follow the hub for its results and the next call.
• Public-sector buyers: the experimentation clause allows procedure trials with AI; procurement and data-protection teams should be involved from the start.

Sources

• BMDS: Ausprobieren statt abwarten, Bundesrat stimmt Stärkung und Ausweitung von Reallaboren in Deutschland zu — 25 September 2026
• BMDS: Agentic AI Hub, zweite Runde startet mit 17 Start-ups und 38 Kommunen — 1 October 2026