At the huge Hannover Messe trade fair over the weekend, attendees heard calls for a lightening of EU Act regulations for industrial AI.

It’s one of the largest industrial trade fairs in the world, and little surprise that AI dominates this year at the Hannover Messe in Germany, with both the CEO of Siemens and German chancellor Friedrich Merz calling for a carve-out for industrial AI when it comes to EU regulations.

In a speech on Sunday, Merz warned that if Europe is to boost productivity, industrial AI will need more regulatory freedom than, for example, consumer AI.

“I will ​push to ease the regulatory burden ⁠in the EU on AI and, ​where possible, to exempt industrial AI ​from the current regulatory straitjacket that is too tight for AI within the European Union,” ​Merz said in his speech.

“AI will contribute ‌to ⁠greater efficiency and productivity, optimised use of resources and, above all, reduced costs.”

This position may well be influenced by the views of Munich-based Siemens, Germany’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation of some €194bn, according to Bloomberg.

Speaking in an interview at the Hannover Messe, Siemens CEO Roland Busch warned the industrial giant would prioritise investments in the US and China if the EU did not lighten its regulations in a sector he said is already subject to sector-specific regulations.

“It’s complete nonsense to treat industrial and machine data the same way as personal data,” Busch said, according to Bloomberg. “I can’t explain to my shareholders why I’m investing money in an environment where I’m being held back.”

The warnings come at a time when the EU’s AI Act is due to come into full force on 2 August of this year. While supporters have hailed the EU’s position on AI as a measured and necessary approach to a technology that has led to scandals like that of the Grok ‘nudification’ app, both critics and supporters continue to call for amendments, as Europe vies to compete in the fast-moving world of AI innovation. So we can expect to hear many more such calls between now and August.

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