Chancellor Merz Hosts Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin, Seals AI Partnership with Nvidia

On October 19, 2026, Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted the 'Invest in Germany' summit at ESMT Berlin business school on Schlossplatz, with the event branded 'Red Carpet for Investments.' Approximately 200 international and German CEOs attended. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — who had made a surprise appearance at Berlin's Alexanderplatz the previous evening — was the featured guest. Merz and Huang announced a partnership in which the German federal government would invest a three-digit million-euro amount in industrial artificial intelligence, with Nvidia contributing engineers and chips. Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) and half the federal cabinet were present, along with investment envoy Martin Blessing (former Commerzbank chief). The summit's core objective was mobilising private capital for infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, energy-grid expansion, data centres, and defence. Officials cited a 6.4% decline in total German investment between 2019 and 2025 — compared to 6.7% growth in the eurozone and 20.2% in the United States — and blamed elevated energy costs, high taxes, and excessive bureaucracy.