Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) stated that Germany will not immediately introduce a tax on so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI). Spoken to RTL and ntv on Tuesday, Wildberger emphasized that his priority is fostering growth through AI, rejecting the notion of new taxes at this stage. He suggested that the country should first allow technological growth to take hold, asserting that an extra tax is unnecessary to achieve this.
Wildberger confirmed that the government is also strategically considering the appropriate regulatory framework. He explained that greater revenues will naturally result from the growing success of the technology, and those funds will be necessary later on.
Although he had previously told the “Tagesspiegel” that the extremely high turnover generated by this technology should be taxed to finance the ongoing transformation of the labor market, he clarified his current position regarding tax targets. When asked specifically whether tech giants should be the primary focus of taxation, he replied that this is a discussion they can certainly have.
However, Wildberger strongly insisted that Germany must first focus on creating more internal digital value. The CDU politician questioned how the country could effectively tax something if it does not control that value creation itself. He stressed that Germany needs to develop its own technologies and build up its digital business models, pointing out that too much value creation related to platform services and payment systems has bypassed Germany. This oversight has resulted in a lack of both jobs and tax revenue. Consequently, Wildberger believes that the main objective for Germany is to generate growth through its own innovative efforts.
