Germany signs a physical AI pact with NVIDIA; Agile Robots gets backing

Germany signs a physical AI pact with NVIDIA; Agile Robots gets backing

19 October 2026: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space have signed a joint declaration of intent with NVIDIA to work on a joint initiative advancing AI models for physical AI. The same day NVIDIA announced planned investments in four German startups, among them the Munich robot maker Agile Robots.

Not yet independently verified. NVIDIA gives no amounts or stake sizes for the planned investments, and we have not seen the text of the declaration of intent, which may carry funding or dates not described here. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What the declaration covers

The signing took place at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin. NVIDIA says it formalises and expands its work with the federal government and Germany's "Industry 4.0 Platform", which brings together politics, industry, research and trade associations, towards the government's goal to "systematically bring industrial AI into widespread use and to establish a state-of-the-art industrial AI ecosystem in Europe."

In a conversation with NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang at the Kraftwerk, a former power station, Merz pressed the country's small and mid-sized manufacturers to take part. "The biggest advantage we have in Germany is our so-called Mittelstand," he said. "Please open your doors for AI to make use of your data." Huang told the audience that German manufacturing knowledge "cannot be replaced. AI can only augment your capability."

The robotics investment

NVIDIA said the new planned investments are part of a commitment of nearly $10 billion to companies, universities and research institutions across Europe, and that it already backs German companies including NEURA Robotics. Agile Robots builds AI-powered robots, from robot arms to its Agile ONE humanoid, for manufacturing, logistics and healthcare. The other three are Avelios Medical, a Munich hospital information system developer, Mirelo, which generates sound for video, and Reflex Aerospace, a Berlin satellite builder. Trending Topics reports that Agile Robots was founded in 2018 by Zhaopeng Chen and Peter Meusel and has raised more than $270 million. No amounts were disclosed.

Why it matters for German manufacturers

The same day, Siemens showed AI-driven production at its Erlangen factory, where it says fully virtual production ramp-up cuts engineering effort by up to 85%. For the Mittelstand, the practical question is what the joint initiative will offer: shared models, compute or programmes that smaller manufacturers can join. Neither side has yet published those details, so suppliers and integrators should watch the Industry 4.0 Platform for calls. Our robotics integrator category lists 25 companies and our robot manufacturer category 57.

Company profile on TrustList: Agile Robots

Sources

• NVIDIA Blog: Germany wants to lead the world in industrial AI, how NVIDIA will help, 19 October 2026
• Trending Topics: NVIDIA invests in Agile Robots, Avelios, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace, 20 October 2026