AI Boom in Germany

The number of German artificial-intelligence start-ups rose last year by 62 percent, and the vast majority of the fledgling businesses were founded in Berlin and Munich, with 86 and 57 companies respectively. That was the conclusion reached by the Applied AI Initiative at the Entrepreneurs’ Center of the Technical University of Munich.

Between 2007 and 2017 more than 230 AI-based research projects were carried out in Berlin alone, and by one calculation there are 223 AI-oriented businesses in the city.

“Berlin has leading companies with a strong AI focus like Amazon, SAP Google and Siemens,” says Volker Markl, director of the Berlin Big Data Center at Berlin Technical University. “Berlin’s start-up scene offers a unique ecosystem for research and data science.”

Many fledgling AI companies were founded in economic sectors such as manufacturing and industry, and transport and mobility in which Germany has traditional strength. Munich start-up Blickfeld, for instance, works with automotive manufacturers.

Price Waterhouse Coopers estimates that AI will contribute 430 billion euros to Germany’s GDP by 2030.