“If we want to be a leader in AI, especially in industry, we need to make extensive improvements. Otherwise, progress and growth will take place elsewhere – and our dependency will increase,” a company spokesman told AFP.

The EU must better support the “deployment” of AI in businesses as well as development of the technology, the spokesman said.

“It is precisely in the area of deployment that new legal uncertainty is currently emerging,” he said, warning that additional regulation could lead to “duplicate assessments, contradictory requirements and unnecessary bureaucracy”.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch earlier Monday told the Bloomberg news agency that his company would prioritise AI investments in the United States and China if the European Union does not ease regulations he considers too restrictive.

He argued in particular that the EU’s AI Act and Data Act “miss the mark” by treating industrial AI like consumer applications.

“I can’t explain to my shareholders why I’m investing money in an environment where I’m being held back,” he said.

Under Busch, Siemens has pivoted from its traditional industrial base towards higher-margin software products, looking to capitalise on data collection in order to help customers automate processes.

The Siemens spokesman said that the EU already had “a proven framework for safe industrial systems” in the form of the Machinery Regulation.

Speaking at the Hanover international trade fair on Sunday, chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would work “to simplify European AI regulation”.

“We can’t go on like this,” he said.