Developments in the field of AI are happening extremely fast. The enormous increase in the capability of AI systems and their broad use in various fields of application offers major opportunities, but also poses new challenges for society. 

For the BMBF it is clear that AI is a key technology that serves as the basis for numerous developments, innovations and products. AI is a highly versatile tool offering huge opportunities for science, growth, prosperity, competitiveness and added value for society. The BMBF sees the provision of AI tools, skills and infrastructures as part of basic government services. It is committed to improving general conditions in order to enable Germany and Europe to become leaders in AI.

AI Action Plan

The BMBF, as the main driving force within the Federal Government, has invested heavily in AI for years and implemented important initiatives. In this way, it has laid an excellent foundation for Germany’s AI ecosystem. The AI Action Plan is designed to take this commitment to the next level. To this end, the BMBF is pursuing the following overarching objectives:

• Data, computing capacity, skilled professionals and research are the central elements in developing and using AI. The BMBF strengthens and builds closer links between the basic building blocks of AI.
• The BMBF strives to achieve even closer European cooperation and pushes for coordinated action within the European Research Area.
• Our specific focus is on tangible economic and social benefit. We want to become leaders in the areas of robotics, health, education and AI start-ups.

The aim is to ensure an excellent research and skills basis for Germany as well as the implementation of measurable economic successes that must also have concrete, tangible benefits for society. In so doing, we must answer the questions of how to make AI “made in Germany” (or Europe) unique and how we can best dovetail AI with our existing strengths. 

Moreover, it is also about putting the current debate about the risks of AI and necessary legal regulation on a scientifically sound and empirical basis. This also applies to the risk classification of AI systems. German activities, strengths and interests in the field of AI will be fed into the European debate in a targeted, coordinated way so as to achieve a new level of quality in our cooperation. 

Focus: AI Action Plan Germany is in an excellent position to actively shape AI developments. The BMBF’s AI Action Plan identifies 11 fields of action where the need to take action is most urgent. It also sets out the measures that the BMBF has already launched as well as what will and must follow in the coming months and years. 

Read the AI Action Plan in full here.  

New impetus for AI in Germany

Germany launched its national Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2018 and has considerably increased its spending on AI as a consequence of this. The updated AI Strategy was launched on 2 December 2020 and focuses on new developments and needs. The AI Action Plan is the BMBF’s update to the AI Strategy. The BMBF alone plans to invest more than 1.6 billion euros in AI in the current legislative period.

Overview of BMBF initiatives under the umbrella of the AI Action Plan

Strengthening AI research in Germany | A research agenda for new perspectives

Competence centres for artificial intelligence

The BMBF funds six AI competence centres that form the nucleus of the German AI research ecosystem. The competence centres are linked together in a network aimed at sharing skills and research results. They ensure the international reputation of Germany’s AI research, now and in future.

The competence centres are:

BIFOLD - Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data

DFKI - German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz)

Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

MCML - Munich Center for Machine Learning

ScaDS.AI - Center for Scalable Data Services and Solutions Dresden/Leipzig

TUE.AI - Tübingen AI Center

AI competence centres become permanent

The five AI competence centres that are based at universities have received institutional funding since 1 July 2022, with the Federal Government providing up to 50 million euros annually. The DFKI receives project funding from the BMBF totalling up to 11 million euros per annum.

Project funding in the field of AI

The BMBF uses project funding to provide targeted stimulus to specific research fields. Other dedicated measures provide targeted funding for young AI researchers. Measures aimed specifically at SMEs support the practical application of research results by small and medium-sized enterprises in particular.

AI research landscape

Over many years, the DFKI, the research institutes of Fraunhofer, Max Planck Society, Helmholtz Association and AI university research have established a strong science and research ecosystem.

Expanding AI infrastructure in a targeted way

AI service centres

The BMBF has launched four AI service centres in order to provide powerful computing infrastructure for users from academia and industry alike and thus considerably increase the availability of AI computing capacity in Germany.

National High Performance Computing (NHR) Alliance

The BMBF and the Länder provide total annual funding of 62.5 million euros to the NHR Alliance. The aim is to provide high-performance computing infrastructures and strengthen users’ methodological skills as well as to deliver initial and continuing training and ensure the continued development of computational science at universities.

Advancing the campaign for AI skills

Alexander von Humboldt Professorships for AI

The BMBF provided five million euros in funding over five years for researchers doing experimental work in AI research.

Thanks to the Alexander von Humboldt Professorships for AI and other BMBF initiatives, as many as 150 new professors have been appointed since 2018.

Promotion of young researchers

The BMBF has launched comprehensive measures to promote AI research talent. This includes funding for young researchers and junior research groups in AI as well as initiatives for integrating AI in continuing vocational training and a joint programme of the Federal Government and the Länder entitled “AI in higher education”.

KI-Nachwuchs@FH

The BMBF’s “KI-Nachwuchs@FH” funding measure for young AI researchers at universities of applied sciences was launched under the umbrella of the “Research at Universities of Applied Sciences” (FaF) programme. It provides strategic, flexible and long-term investments in research equipment, facilities and demonstrators for application and transfer-oriented AI research.

AI Campus

AI Campus is a BMBF-funded digital learning platform that follows the principles of openness and interoperability. All learning opportunities are available free of charge. The mission of the AI Campus platform is to strengthen AI skills and competences for all and to get even more people interested in AI.

Konrad Zuse Schools of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence

The Zuse Schools programme brings together researchers from different higher education and non-university research institutions with experts from industry’s research and development departments to train highly talented master’s and PhD students.

Data competence centres for research and academia

The BMBF provides funding for projects to establish data competence centres at universities and research institutions in order to strengthen the research data management skills of the German science community. The aim is to support the development of data science methods and applications.

Data Literacy Toolbox

This BMBF research project creates a national learning and continuing education platform for data literacy skills.

The online platform provides learners with easy-to-understand information about how to use data securely and responsibly. The toolbox is free of charge.

MINT Action Plan 2.0

The MINT Action Plan 2.0 pools all BMBF measures in the field of STEM (or MINT in German: mathematics, informatics, natural sciences, technology) at all levels of education, from preschool to higher education. In this way, children and adolescents are provided with opportunities to engage and develop a lasting interest in STEM subjects early on and learn about related career prospects.

Pushing the transfer of AI into real-world value creation and economic opportunities

KI4KMU

The BMBF supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their partners from academia and industry in their research and development projects in the field of AI, without restriction to any particular sector. The idea is to foster the development of innovations with a significant degree of novelty compared to the current state of the art.

Regional competence centres for labour research – artificial intelligence

The regional competence centres for AI-related labour research are aimed at forging closer links between labour research on the one hand and corporate work organization processes and university training on the other.

Industrie 4.0 (InGAIA-X)

This BMBF funding measure supports research projects that contribute towards creating and shaping an Industrie 4.0 data space by developing interoperable, Gaia-X conforming, AI-based tools and applications.

Learning production technology (ProLern)

The BMBF’s ProLern funding measure supports research and development projects aimed at enhancing the efficiency and capabilities of production machines and equipment through the increased use of AI including, for example, machine learning. The aim of the funding measure is to exploit the potential of AI in production and manufacturing.

Demonstration and transfer network for AI in production (ProKi-Netz)

The ProKi network primarily intends to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in assessing the opportunities, limits and risks of AI applications in their production processes. It enables SMEs to independently implement AI solutions in a real-world production environment.

AI in health care – for the benefit of all of society

Digital Hubs: Advances in Research and Health Care

The BMBF provides total funding of up to 50 million euros to the six Digital Hubs: Advances in Research and Health Care. They are designed to apply innovative IT solutions and shared data use to improve research opportunities and patient care across all university hospitals.

AI-based assistance systems for healthcare processes

The BMBF funds 14 research and development projects that use artificial intelligence to support medical, organizational or administrative processes at hospitals with the aim of easing the burden on their staff.

Ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) of digital transformation, big data and artificial intelligence in health research and health care

• eHealth applications
• Medical diagnostics
• Assistance systems
• Data protection
• Changing values, policies and practices in health care
• National and international projects on the ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) of AI

.

Making targeted use of the societal and scientific benefits of AI

AI Application Hub on Plastic Packaging

The BMBF funds two innovation labs that are closely intertwined within an AI Hub that aims to increase sustainability and resource-efficiency along the entire value chain of plastic packaging. Industry, the science community and society are working hand in hand to develop solutions based on AI.

Biodiversity research

The BMBF funds research projects for making stronger use of AI in biodiversity research. The goal is to take existing opportunities offered by AI and digital technology to provide innovative solutions for protecting biodiversity.

WarmWorld climate model

The goal is to develop WarmWorld as a global climate model “made in Germany” that efficiently exploits the new possibilities of high-performance (exascale) computing and uses the most advanced HPC software technologies and AI to generate kilometre-scale climate simulation data.

AI in civil security research

Research done under the umbrella of this funding call will contribute towards identifying the potential of AI for increasing the safety and security of our citizens and developing application-oriented solutions. The goal is for specific applications to support human cognitive abilities.

Science Media Center

Funding is provided to enhance and expand the technology base and scope of science journalism by linking language models with additional knowledge sources, personalized research assistants and self-reflective chatbots.

Exploring and developing AI-based technologies in the education system

Competence centres for teaching in school and continuing education

An office for science-led networking and knowledge transfer, flanked by four specialist competence centres, strengthens digital continuing training for teachers by making use of AI systems in the classroom.

The digital transformation of education

Research carried out under this funding priority is centred on the opportunities and impacts of new digital technologies in the education sector. Research will look at all levels of education, from preschool and school to university and initial and continuing training. Funding is provided for excellent scientific research approaches with a practical focus.

INVITE innovation competition

The BMBF funds innovative developments that enable everyone to find the training that suits them and their circumstances quickly and easily online.

Open Educational Resources Strategy

The aim of the OER Strategy is to outline key developments with regard to future-proof digital infrastructures for learning and teaching using open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP). Within this context, AI technologies are to be tested and consideration will be given to changes that must be made to the existing teaching and learning culture in order to achieve this aim.

National Education Platform initiative

The initiative is designed to pool digital learning opportunities and special administrative procedures from the education sector in order to create a digital education area that provides access and transition opportunities for users, supporting them on their individual learning trajectories.

At the same time, the initiative will also develop interoperable learning and teaching programmes.

AI in higher education

The Federal Government and the Länder intend to jointly anchor AI across the German higher education system. Funded projects are aimed at making better use of AI in teaching and equipping the professionals of tomorrow with relevant skills and competences. A total of 81 universities have received funding under the umbrella of the initiative.

Striving for even closer cooperation at European and international level

Cooperation with France

The BMBF and the French research ministry have launched two joint funding calls aimed at deepening their bilateral cooperation in AI. Collaborations between scientific partners and consortia will strengthen the translation of research results into practice.

AI Grid

The initiative boosts the international and interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge among young scientists in all areas of AI research. This will strengthen European cooperation, provide the basis for future networks and support the forming of young, pan-European research teams.

EUREKA cooperation in AI

The BMBF funds AI clusters involving European partners under the umbrella of the European research initiative EUREKA and the ITEA cluster on software innovation.

European Digital Education Action Plan and AI

The EU Commission has initiated two Council recommendations and a Council conclusion to update the Digital Education Action Plan and realize its priorities. Both Council recommendations offer numerous opportunities for supporting the digital transformation of education and training systems.

Fostering dialogue with society and multidisciplinary research on AI

Plattform Lernende Systeme

Germany’s platform for AI systems aims to foster the dialogue between science, industry, society and politics and draft recommendations for action to position Germany as an international leader in the area of self-learning systems.

Supporting research

The aim of supportiwwdng research is to examine the impact of AI on people and society as well as the effects of algorithms on changing and regulating human behaviour and the consequences of these effects for societies.

Editorial deadline for this text: 01.11.2024