IPCEI-AI: Requirements for funding and evaluation criteria

On December 5, 2025, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy launched the expression of interest procedure for the “IPCEI Artificial Intelligence” (IPCEI-AI) funding program. Companies of all sizes are now invited to submit innovative ideas for AI projects. The deadline for this is 21 January 2026. With this funding program, the German government aims to enable the development of a powerful and innovative European AI ecosystem. Funding can be particularly worthwhile for companies with a focus on industrial applications of AI – such as manufacturing, robotics, materials research or autonomous production.

IPCEI-AI comprises technologies along the entire AI value chain

A wide range of technological areas are eligible for funding. Included are

• basic data processing technologies that enable the management, storage, labeling and provision of high-quality data
• Large, sovereign, open-source basic models for complex tasks such as language comprehension or simulation
• Sector-specific AI models based on structured industry and machine data
• Technologies that cover the entire lifecycle of AI models, including retraining, maintenance and monitoring
• open, extensible platforms based on open source software that enable developers, researchers and organizations to collaboratively develop, deploy and share AI models and tools
• innovative AI services, in particular industrial applications that use machine learning, natural language processing or computer vision to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, and
• overarching projects on governance, coordination of European milestone planning and transfer structures.

Evaluation criteria for IPCEI-AI projects

Funding is primarily provided for projects that set new technological standards. These include developments such as innovative training methods for AI models, the development of high-quality, structured data platforms in compliance with European data protection and security standards or energy-efficient AI technologies that reduce the power consumption of data centers. Pilot plants, demonstrators or new AI services that accelerate the use of AI in industry are also important. The development of open source components, communities and the transfer of expertise beyond the company itself are also beneficial. It remains crucial that each project makes a clear contribution to building a next-generation European AI ecosystem – both technically and in terms of collaboration, scalability and knowledge transfer.

Who can be supported – and who cannot

Funding recipients can be companies with a branch or permanent establishment in Germany. Universities, research institutions and other public institutions are also associated partners.

Companies that have not complied with an EU recovery order or for which insolvency proceedings are pending are excluded.

The notice distinguishes between two roles for the procedure:

Direct participants (IPCEI individual projects)

Companies can submit large individual projects in the form of an outline as part of the expression of interest procedure.

Associated partners (AGVO projects)

A supplementary funding guideline will be published for consortia and individual projects seeking funding under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). However, outlines can already be submitted now in order to participate in the matchmaking process and the definition of priorities at an early stage. Further deadlines will follow with the funding guidelines to be published.

In both cases, a project may only be started after approval has been granted.

Procedure: Multi-stage path from sketch to EU notification

The procedure is two-pronged and makes a clear distinction between:

1. IPCEI route (direct participants)
2. AGVO route (associated partners)

However, both paths begin identically:

Joint start: sketch process

Applicants must submit a project outline by January 21, 2026, which serves as an expression of interest. The outline should generally be 20 pages long and must contain basic technical, organizational and financial statements.

IPCEI route (direct participants)

Direct participants selected on the basis of the project outline take part in a subsequent European matchmaking process, which serves to network and integrate the projects into a pan-European AI project. After successful matchmaking, the participants are requested to submit the application documents and the state aid approval procedure to the European Commission (notification).

AGVO route (associated partners)

AGVO projects can already submit the same project outlines as IPCEI projects and participate in thematic matchmaking at this stage without having IPCEI status. Further details will be provided in the funding guidelines, which are yet to be announced.

Funding amount: Financing via IPCEI or AGVO

For IPCEI projects, the funding intensity depends on the funding gap and can amount to up to 100 percent of the eligible costs. However, direct participants must make a significant contribution of their own.

AGVO projects are limited to a maximum of 25 million euros per company and can – depending on the conditions – achieve funding rates of up to 70 percent.