German and French AI Competence Centres Strengthen European AI Sovereignty
Die Leitenden der Deutschen Kompetenzzentren für Forschung zu Künstlicher Intelligenz, Minister Barke, Generalkonsul Spinoza sowie die französischen Vertreter Fabien Le Voyer und Pierre Alliez für Inria © DFKI / Oliver Dietze
On November 5 and 6, 2025, leading AI researchers from across Germany and France gathered in Saarbrücken for the annual All Hands Meeting of the German AI Competence Centres.
At the invitation of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), scientists from the university centres BIFOLD, Lamarr Institute, MCML, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, and Tübingen AI Center shared and discussed their latest research findings in Saarland University’s assembly hall. This year, the French AI community also participated for the first time, represented by the AI competence centres 3IA Côte d’Azur, ANITI, DATAIA, ENACT, PostGen@Paris, PR[AI]RIE-PSAI, SEQUOIA, and the national computer science institute Inria.
The German AI competence centers – five of which are located at universities – and DFKI form a national network that serves as the foundation of the German scientific AI ecosystem. As part of the German government’s AI strategy, the five university AI competence centres have been permanently funded by the federal government and the respective states since July 1, 2022. The federal government allocates up to €50 million annually for this initiative. DFKI receives up to €11 million per year from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) as part of its upcoming project funding program.
In his welcoming speech, Matthias Hauer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, emphasized: “Research will help determine what the AI of the future and a future with AI will look like. The German government wants AI that is ‘Made in Germany’: secure and trustworthy, resource-efficient and therefore sustainable, oriented toward the common good and serving people, not replacing them. Germany is one of the world’s leading research locations. The AI competence centers stand for excellent research and strengthen Germany’s position as a top AI location. In order to achieve the goals of the High-Tech Agenda Germany, we now want to transfer our excellent AI research to the economy – for greater competitiveness, added value, and sovereignty.”
The meeting between the German and French network partners is the result of DFKI’s longstanding relationship with Inria. Since 2018, Inria has been coordinating the French government’s national AI strategy. Both organizations have collaborated on projects for decades, initially at the Saarbrücken and Nancy locations. On January 22, 2020, the institute-wide cooperation was officially formalized.
Antonio Krüger, who will lead the scientific committee of the AI competence centres in 2025, emphasized the importance of cross-border collaboration: “I am particularly pleased to welcome the French national computer science institute Inria and the French AI clusters to the All Hands Meeting of the AI Competence Centres Network. The design of AI is increasingly becoming a central operating system for the economy and society. Designing it in such a way that we can rely on it as we do on electronic calculators is a major challenge, but also a great opportunity for Germany, France, and the European Union. We have the ecosystems and, with the AI Gigafactories, the computing infrastructure to meet these challenges.”
Pierre Alliez, Senior Team Leader at Inria Sophia-Antipolis and Scientific coordinator of the partnership between Inria and DFKI, highlighted the significance of a joint Franco-German AI strategy: “Today’s event is the first scientific pilot meeting of the French AI cluster network outside France. This event is therefore also a milestone in the Franco-German joint agenda in the field of AI and marks the start of a structured initiative between French and German players.”
Jürgen Barke, Saarland’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digital, and Energy, emphasized the vital role of artificial intelligence in shaping the transformation process and the future of work and production. In Saarland, AI is a key driver of economic change and competitiveness.
JJérôme Spinoza, the French Consul General in Germany, stated that the meeting captured the core of the Franco-German partnership in artificial intelligence and beyond. The focus was on the shared goal of advancing research and innovation to foster European integration and boost Europe’s momentum.
On November 5, the meeting mainly centered on intensive scientific exchange and networking between the German and French AI centres.
AI gigafactories for European sovereignty in the field of artificial intelligence
November 6 provided a look into Germany’s AI infrastructure, the efforts of AI service centres, and the bright future for young AI researchers, whether in academia or starting new companies.
Dr. Ferri Abolhassan, a member of the Board of Management at Deutsche Telekom AG and Chairman of the DFKI Supervisory Board, sparked a panel discussion on AI gigafactories, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities for German and European AI sovereignty. AI gigafactories with 100,000 GPUs are essential for developing and deploying AI in science and industry. Moderated by DFKI corporate spokesperson Reinhard Karger, the panel included Mirko Holzer (Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovations – SPRIND), Prof. Dr. Holger Hoos (Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Artificial Intelligence, RWTH Aachen University), and Prof. Dr. Feiyu Xu (German University of Digital Science, member of the supervisory boards at Airbus SE, Chain IQ Group AG, ZF Friedrichshafen, and Siemens Energy AG). They discussed AI lighthouse applications in healthcare, such as personalized drug development and improved hospital management; breakthrough innovations in startups rather than incremental improvements; industrial AI through automated factories; AI to reduce bureaucracy; and hybrid defense using AI for cybersecurity. The consensus was clear: Europe must and can develop AI innovations independently. The six AI competence centres are encouraged to pursue the opportunities presented by the EU’s AI Continent Action Plan, the AI for Science initiative, and the Apply AI strategy at the European AI in Science Summit in Copenhagen on November 3-4.
Academic career or startup?
What specific challenges do founders of technology- and research-based startups face? How can aspiring entrepreneurs gain from networking opportunities like Grid AI, and what obstacles must be overcome when transitioning from research to startup? What advantages do startup and innovation platforms provide for entering the French and German markets – especially for startups with a European focus?
Moderated by DFKI co-speaker Andreas Schepers, the panel discussion featured Matthias Schmitz (Southwest X), Charlotte Peyrat-Vaganay (Inria), and Laure Poirson (AI Grid) and focused on career paths for computer science and AI graduates and on opportunities for successfully translating research results into entrepreneurial practice.
Conclusion and outlook
The meeting impressively demonstrated how German AI competence centres are joining forces and paving the way for a networked European AI landscape together with the French research community.
Further information
https://www.bmftr.bund.de/EN/Research/EmergingTechnologies/ArtificialIntelligence/artificialintelligence_node.html
All Hands Meeting 2025 Website: https://all-hands-meeting-2025.dfki.de
Press Contact:
Heike Leonhard, M.A.
Communications & Media DFKI Saarbrücken
Heike.Leonhard@dfki.de
Tel.: +49 681 85775 5390
DFKI press release: https://www.dfki.de/en/web/news/german-and-french-ai-competence-centres-strengthen-european-ai-sovereignty