Jensen Huang Tells German Chancellor Merz: No Industry, Nothing to Regulate
At a meeting with German Chancellor Merz, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang made a series of pointed remarks about the relationship between AI regulation and innovation in Europe. Merz said he hoped to strike a balance between innovation and regulation, to which Huang bluntly replied: "If the industry doesn't thrive, there's nothing to regulate" — a country with no AI industry at all would have nothing to regulate. His core argument is that "without technology, there is nothing to regulate," laid out in a three-layer framework: the tech industry must first invent the technologies used for safety, companies follow best practices, and only then does regulation step in; safety comes from technology and engineering, not hopes and dreams.
Confirmed
- Huang met with Merz and discussed how Europe should regulate AI (@Hesamation, @tekbog and others)
- Core statement: without a thriving industry and an AI sector, there is nothing to regulate (same point relayed in posts by @tekbog, @JFPuget, @2Cornot2C and others)
- Three-layer framework: industry invents safety technologies, companies follow best practices, regulation comes last (@Hesamation)
- Huang lamented that Germany, "one of the most technologically advanced countries," now lags far behind technologically, saying Germany has plenty of talent and should "Just get to work" (@2Cornot2C)
- Joked that "overthinking everything may be a European trait" (@Ppoutonnet)
Why it matters
- This continues Huang's consistent opposition to "regulate first, develop later," highlighting the tension between the EU's AI regulatory framework and US AI industry competitiveness
- @tekbog sarcastically remarked that Europe is living through a "century of humiliation," reflecting the view among some that Europe's AI industry keeps falling further behind the US under regulatory pressure
- The exchange comes at a pivotal moment as Europe debates AI Act enforcement and industrial policy, making it a bellwether signal
2026-10-20 ~ 2026-10-21 · 7 related posts
Primary sources
- Merz asks Jensen Huang how Europe should regulate AI: "You can't regulate if there's no technology" — Hesamation ·
- Jensen Huang to German Chancellor: you can't regulate technology that doesn't exist — robleclerc ·
- Jensen Huang: Nothing pains me more than Germany falling so far behind in technology — 2C_ornot2C ·
- [source] Merz asks Jensen Huang how Europe should regulate AI: "You can't regulate if there's no technology" — Hesamation · 2026-10-20
- Jensen Huang to German chancellor: no AI industry means nothing to regulate — 2C_ornot2C · 2026-10-20
- Jensen Huang mocks Europe: 'maybe it's the European way to overthink everything' — Ppoutonnet · 2026-10-20
- [source] Jensen Huang: Nothing pains me more than Germany falling so far behind in technology — 2C_ornot2C · 2026-10-20
- [source] Jensen Huang to German Chancellor: you can't regulate technology that doesn't exist — robleclerc · 2026-10-21