According to a senior official at German software leader SAP, Europe needs to concentrate on competing in industrial AI, as the region is lagging behind the United States and China in the pursuit of advanced technology.
Thomas Saueressig, a board member at Europe's largest software company, told AFP in an interview that "this is where I think Europe can achieve significant success worldwide" regarding artificial intelligence in industry.
This was due to "the industrial expertise, data, and skills we possess in Europe," he stated at the company’s headquarters in Walldorf, located in southwestern Germany.
Europe is perceived as trailing the world's leading two economies in the strategic domain: the US, featuring major companies like OpenAI and Google, and China, which has a vibrant AI ecosystem and houses significant labs like DeepSeek.
However, deteriorating relations with Beijing, which Europe blames for unfair trading practices, along with the United States under President Donald Trump, have provided the continent new motivation to enhance its initiatives.
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Industrial AI applications are usually more compact and require less energy than the extensive models created by leading companies, and are tailored for particular tasks that may include crafting construction designs to enhancing electrical wiring in equipment.
Saueressig, SAP's chief customer officer, stated that we can differentiate ourselves in Europe" by "utilizing industrial expertise and data knowledge for specific models."
"We shouldn't focus solely on the large language models; it's also important to discuss the specialized industry models."
Advanced technologies aren't unfamiliar in production environments, but AI has the potential to significantly enhance them, with indications that initiatives are intensifying in Germany, the largest economy in Europe.
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Last week, automotive giant BMW announced a pilot initiative to introduce two AI-driven humanoid robots in a German facility this year to assist with the manufacturing process.
"Improvements in AI system capabilities reveal new opportunities for automation," stated Milan Nedeljkovic, BMW's production head, who will assume the CEO role in May.
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The automotive manufacturer has been enhancing its AI abilities for a while and was progressing "towards autonomous AI that can make its own decisions in manufacturing," Nedeljkovic informed reporters, including those from AFP, in Munich.