Following an Artificial Intelligence (AI) summit last September 16, 2025, leaders in business, science and the German government affirmed their ambition to establish Hamburg, Germany as a leading AI centre in Europe.
The summit, hosted by the German Chamber of Commerce, the Artificial Intelligence Centre Hamburg (ARIC) and the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Hamburg, highlighted the immense economic potential and the crucial prerequisites, from ethical development to smart infrastructure, needed to realise this goal.
The city’s current coalition agreement explicitly aims to strengthen Hamburg’s competitiveness through artificial intelligence, ensuring that innovation is pursued while social impact is carefully considered.
Economic opportunity
The central finding presented at the summit was that “AI pays off.”
Kathrin Haug, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, cited a McKinsey study showing that generative AI could spur an annual global productivity increase of up to EUR 4,15 trillion.
This figure, surpassing Japan’s gross national product, underscores the urgency for Hamburg and the European Union to secure technological sovereignty, according to a press release by Business Hamburg.
The EU has recently shifted its focus from purely regulating to actively promoting AI through the AI Continent Action Plan, aiming to help the bloc catch up with global leaders such as the United States and China.
This balancing act between promotion and prudent regulation remains a challenge for the entire industry.
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Ethical regulation
A significant portion of the discussion focused on the necessary regulatory framework, notably the EU AI Act.
Doreen Soeder, Head of Compliance at Tiplu GmbH, shared the experience of certifying the company’s MAIA product, an AI support tool for hospital doctors, under the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), a 15-month process.
While the medical software is classified as high-risk, meaning it must meet the highest standards, Soeder cautioned that while regulation is needed, while “over-regulation can paralyse the innovation process.”
She stressed that the AI Act’s requirement for result traceability is crucial for building trust, but regulatory requirements must be incorporated from the initial development phase.
Investing in infrastructure, competitiveness
Alois Krtil, founder of ARIC, pointed to several European milestones demonstrating the sector’s vitality, including the EUR 879 million acquisition of Duesseldorf-based startup Cognigy and the EUR 1.3 billion strategic investment by Dutch chip supplier ASML in the French unicorn Mistral AI.
The key to Hamburg’s future is developing smart infrastructure for new data centres.
Krtil called for a network of medium-sized facilities complemented by larger regional centres.
He also emphasised that for Hamburg to lead, competitive energy prices must be prioritised, noting that operators are already striving for greater sustainability, with German data centre greenhouse gas emissions having slightly decreased between 2014 and 2024, despite expanded capacity.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino