An AI Safety and Prosperity Institute for Germany? Security, Growth, and Europe's AI Strategy
Summary
As Germany debates a national AI Safety Institute, current government plans give the institute a dual mandate over the long-term to cover the economic effects of AI as well. Recent cybersecurity incidents show that safety is not a constraint on prosperity but a precondition for it: European companies often lack access to adequate cyber defence, making security itself an economic concern.
Lucy Czachowski (Bitkom) and Jacob Schaal (King's College London / AI Objectives Institute) discuss what industry needs from AI regulation and the German AISI, how safety and adoption interact in Europe's regulated sectors, and what a credible "safety and prosperity" mandate would look like in practice.
What will be covered?
Why the AI Safety Institute debate has reached Germany, and what the long-term prospects of such an institute are
The plans to pair it with a Prosperity Institute: tracking AI's economic effects on jobs, value creation, and competitiveness over the long run
Cybersecurity as an economic issue: what recent incidents reveal about European companies' access to cyber defence
Whether safety and prosperity form a coherent institutional mission for Germany and Europe
Format
Fireside chat focused on the above topics (approx. 40 mins), moving on to open audience Q&A (approx. 20 mins).
Speaker Bios
Lucy Czachowski works at the intersection of technology, policy, and strategy, shaping how Artificial Intelligence and Cloud are applied in Europe’s most regulated and impactful sectors, including healthcare, defence, finance, and public administration. As the Head of AI & Cloud Policy | Resilience and Infrastructure at Bitkom, she drives discussions with industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders on how Germany and Europe can achieve digital sovereignty while responsibly deploying transformative technologies.
Jacob Schaal researches the labor market impacts of AI at King’s College London and the AI Objectives Institute. As author of Windfall Trust’s AI Economics Brief and through his contributions to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Handelsblatt and Internationale Politik, he examines the economic and strategic implications of AI. He previously worked on AI policy at the think tank Pour Demain in Brussels.
Who should attend?
Anybody interested in AI safety, AI middle-power strategy, or the economics of AI. No technical background required.
Note that attendance is subject to approval. You'll be asked to show your ticket at the door.
Co-hosted by Safe AI Germany and the Hertie AI Policy Initiative.