Merz Sets 2030 AI Goal for Germany and Cites BioNTech’s Nasdaq Listing as Warning Sign
Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Germany aims to be Europe’s leading modern AI country by 2030 and calls BioNTech’s decision to list on Nasdaq rather than a European exchange a sign that German-backed innovators still look abroad for capital.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is tying Germany’s economic future to artificial intelligence and deeper capital markets, while warning that homegrown success stories are still turning to the United States for financing.
Merz said Germany wants to become "Europe’s leading modern AI country by 2030" and argued that the government is on a path to achieve that goal. He said Berlin is looking for partners "not just in Europe, but around the world" to work with Germany on this effort.
To illustrate what he sees as a gap between scientific strength and financial backing at home, Merz pointed to BioNTech. He described it as an extraordinarily successful company that grew large through coronavirus research and vaccine development, built in Germany with German support. But when BioNTech went to the capital markets, he noted, it chose New York’s Nasdaq over Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, or Madrid.
Merz linked this outcome to a broader pattern in German politics and society. He said that in Germany there has often been agreement on what should be closed or ended, citing nuclear energy and airports, but far less agreement on what the country wants to build and which steps are needed. Changing that mindset, he said, is one of his goals in leading the federal government.
He also warned that authoritarian leaders are trying to divide the world among themselves and said Germany must remain a place where people can live together freely and peacefully. In this framing, building up AI capacity and modern economic structures is tied to preserving an open political system.
Whether Germany can meet its 2030 AI ambition will depend on policies that follow these statements: how it supports AI firms in accessing capital, whether it can keep more fast-growing companies on European exchanges, and what international partnerships emerge from Merz’s call for global cooperation.
Sources
- OSINT