Germany sees €4.1 trillion investment potential by 2035

Germany’s Invest in Germany Summit was not only a showcase for current pledges. A group of companies and investors including Siemens and Deutsche Bank said the country could attract up to €4.1 trillion in investment by 2035, equivalent to about $4.6 trillion, across artificial intelligence, energy and defence. That long-range estimate gives the event a broader economic angle than the separate announcement that companies had pledged more than €225 billion.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz used the summit to urge businesses to adopt AI as Germany confronts global competition in automobiles, chemicals and engineering. He described the technology as part of a fundamental economic transformation and asked companies to open their data to AI. The appeal reflects a policy effort to modernise existing industrial strengths rather than treat AI as an isolated software sector.

Nvidia was a prominent part of that pitch. Merz said cooperation with the chip designer was important to Germany’s future, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pointed to work with German automakers, including Mercedes-Benz on premium robotaxis. Nvidia also announced planned investments in German startups Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace as part of its nearly $10 billion commitment to Europe’s technology ecosystem. Germany’s economy ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia, although Reuters said details were not disclosed.

The opportunity remains a projection, not committed capital. Converting a multi-trillion-euro estimate into factories, data centres, energy capacity and defence production will depend on approvals, infrastructure, skilled workers and demand. Made for Germany members separately plan to invest more than €850 billion through 2028, after investing more than €200 billion in 2025, but those figures also describe commitments and plans rather than completed projects.

The distinct takeaway is therefore Germany’s attempted economic reset: AI is being positioned as the tool to renew industrial competitiveness, while energy and defence investment supply the physical and strategic foundations.

Image: Siemens official AI industry story page.

Sources

Reuters (Berlin/Frankfurt, Oct. 19, 2026)