Jürgen Marks Official Spokesperson and head of the press office – Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy telephone: +49 89 2162-2290 pressestellestmwi.bayern.de Prinzregentenstr. 28 80538 Munich
MUNICH At the opening ceremony of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems (IKS), Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger announced strong support from the Bavarian government for artificial intelligence (AI). Aiwanger: “With the High Tech Agenda, the state government will invest two billion euros in the future viability of the Bavarian economy by 2023.”
In Munich, Aiwanger symbolically presented a grant of 20 million euros from the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the development of the IKS. The German government will also commit 20 million euros to the construction of the site at the science campus in Garching near Munich. The IKS, headed by Professor Mario Trapp, will move in there in 2024 and network closely with the TU Munich and Bavarian industry.
Aiwanger: “Thanks to the Fraunhofer concept, we have strong, application-oriented research, which is good for our economy. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important. The automotive industry will be one of the main beneficiaries of our research investments. And cognitive systems are what make smart farming possible in the first place. We have to take away the fear of AI because it makes our lives better.”
With a view to the billions of dollars being invested in artificial intelligence by international competitors, the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs said: “No one is so far ahead of us that we couldn't catch them up. But we have to get started right away. We want to be a global leader. We are investing to this end!”