BERLIN, March 17 (Reuters) – Germany plans to encourage investments in data centres to at least double domestic capacity and to boost artificial intelligence data processing at least fourfold by 2030, the government said on Tuesday.
In a bid to catch up with the dominant players the United States and China, digital minister Karsten Wildberger proposed a range of measures, including dedicating land for development, that ministers are due to approve on Wednesday.
* Under the scheme, municipal business taxes will go to thetown or city that attracts the new centre, no longer to wherethe company is headquartered * Regulatory reviews are to speed up and collaborationbetween the different companies in the AI supply chain will beencouraged * “We welcome investment from third countries,” according toa document published by the digital ministry. It is, however,primarily targeting European and German companies * Amazon, Microsoft, Google are among the biggest spenderson German data infrastructure * German players include Deutsche Telekom, unlisted SchwarzGroup * AI data centres in Germany boasted total capacity of 530MW at the end of last year, much of that operated by non-Germanproviders, according to figures from German lobby group Bitkom * European countries are pushing for more sovereign controlover AI infrastructure due to a rise in tariffs, armed conflictsand sharply diverging online-content regulation
($1 = 0.8640 euros)
(Reporting by Andreas RinkeWriting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by Madeline Chambers)
