Germany’s digital minister, Karsten Wildberger, has attacked the EU’s AI Act as overly complex and bureaucratic, while heaping praise on the Commission’s plan to spend billions setting up massive AI training hubs known as gigafactories.
Wildberger made the remarks in an interview with German publication Tagesspiegel in which he also vowed to “try everything” to make the AI Act more “innovation friendly” once the Commission’s digital simplification track kicks off in the autumn.
“It’s overloaded and too complex,” he complained of the EU law, adding: “Of course risks have to be addressed, but the implementation is extremely bureaucratic.”
Wildberger, a former electronics retail manager, became Germany’s first digital minister in the coalition government led by Friedrich Merz this May.
The minister also defended the EU’s planned “AI gigafactories” against criticism from the bosses of German giants, SAP and Siemens, who have suggested the facilities are unnecessary.
“If we can’t find a way to use a data centre with 100,000 high-end AI chips, then I don’t know what do anymore,” said Wildberger.
Siemens and SAP are world-class companies, he said – but pointed out that decisive innovation most often comes from startups.
He also said that Germany needs to become more active at the European level.
(nl)
