Germany is setting up an artificial intelligence (AI) safety institute to better assess the opportunities and risks linked to advanced AI models, the government said on Monday.
The National Security Council approved the creation of the new body, which is to bring together German expertise on the capabilities and potential dangers of AI systems.
The institute is also expected to work more closely with similar bodies abroad and push for common international standards on the use of AI.
Many countries already have such institutes. In Germany, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has so far carried out tasks in this area.
An international meeting on standardizing AI safety standards was held in Seoul in December, with the BSI also taking part.
The Security Council, chaired by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also discussed the security situation in the Middle East. It also decided to review laws governing the supply of essential goods and critical infrastructure to the population and the armed forces in times of crisis, and adapt them to current challenges.
Germany's coalition government of Merz’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats set up the National Security Council last year to respond quickly and effectively to crises and threats of all kinds.
