Chancellor Merz wants to exempt industrial AI from the EU AI Act before August deadline
What it really says
At the opening of Hannover Messe 2026, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced his intention to push for a substantial easing of European AI regulation. Specifically, he wants to remove industrial AI 'from the currently overly restrictive regulatory framework of the EU's AI regulation.' The German government plans a separate regulatory path for industrial AI applications: a distinction between strictly regulated consumer AI and more loosely regulated industrial AI, making it easier for large companies and SMEs to advance automation processes with AI. Merz stressed that AI would 'contribute to greater efficiency and productivity, optimised resource use and above all lower costs' and thus 'strengthen the competitiveness of industrial production.' Additionally, the federal government aims to quadruple Germany's AI computing capacity by 2030. ZVEI President Gunther Kegel supported the demand: 'The AI regulatory framework of the AI Act must become more industry-compatible.' The full high-risk obligations of the EU AI Act take effect on 2 August 2026.
Our assessment
Merz's demand is understandable from an industrial policy perspective, but requires careful scrutiny from a fundamental rights standpoint. The EU AI Act was deliberately designed as risk-based - the strictest rules apply to high-risk applications regardless of whether they are deployed in factories or for consumers. A blanket exemption for 'industrial AI' could undermine protections for workers: AI-driven quality control, algorithmic performance evaluation, or autonomous safety systems in factories directly affect people. The distinction between 'industrial' and 'consumer AI' is not clear-cut. At the same time, concerns that current regulation may inhibit innovation in practice are legitimate - especially for SMEs without large compliance departments. A Cisco study shows that 65 percent of German industrial companies already use AI productively. These companies need legal certainty, not uncertainty. The decisive point: not whether to regulate, but how practical the regulation is.
Relevance for Germany
Maximally relevant for Germany. The decision directly affects the approximately 65 percent of German industrial companies already using AI according to a Cisco study, as well as the entire automation industry. Hannover Messe as the world's largest industrial fair is the symbolically most important venue for this announcement. Before 2 August 2026, when the AI Act's high-risk obligations take effect, clarity must be established. The German government has already proposed in its AI Market Surveillance and Innovation Promotion Act (KI-MIG) to postpone obligations by one year to 2027 and create exemptions for SMEs with up to 249 employees and 50 million euros in revenue. Merz is now going further: he wants to fundamentally remove industrial AI from the high-risk framework.
Fact check
The core statements - removing industrial AI from the AI Act framework, quadrupling computing capacity by 2030, ZVEI's demand for industry-compatible regulation - are consistently reported by the Federal Government (primary source: official speech), heise online, Handelsblatt, and Silicon Republic. The speech is available as an official source on bundesregierung.de. The context - EU AI Act high-risk obligations from 2 August 2026, KI-MIG draft with postponement to 2027, SME exemptions - is well documented through prior reporting. Caveat: the exact legislative pathway for exempting industrial AI from the AI Act remains unclear. This is a political statement of intent, not a finished legislative proposal. Whether EU partners - particularly France and the EU Commission - would agree to such a special arrangement is an open question.
Source
- • Speech by the Federal Chancellor at the opening of Hannover Messe 20.04.2026 (bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/rede-merz-hannover-messe-2421888)
- • heise online 21.04.2026 (heise.de/news/Bundeskanzler-Merz-Europaeische-KI-Regulierung-erleichtern-11264933.html)
- • Handelsblatt 21.04.2026 (handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/hannover-messe-merz-will-industrielle-ki-aus-eu-richtlinien-herausnehmen/100218272.html)
- • Silicon Republic 21.04.2026 (siliconrepublic.com/machines/merz-siemens-call-for-easing-of-eu-regulations-on-industrial-ai)