Artificial intelligence (AI) is a key technology for science, business, and society. At the same time, international competition is intensifying, and Germany is striving to secure technological sovereignty, high-performance infrastructure, and AI-based value creation. Against this backdrop, experts from academia, business, and politics will gather at AI26 – The Lamarr Conference on July 7 and 8, 2026, at the World Conference Center Bonn to discuss how advances in AI research can be translated into innovation, real-world deployment and societal impact. Interactive discussion formats, panels, and workshops will provide a space for direct exchange between researchers, industry representatives, and policymakers.
Held in the former plenary hall of the German Bundestag, the conference brings together leading international researchers, business leaders, policymakers, and representatives from the healthcare and business sectors. The focus is on issues currently shaping the international AI debate: How can we scale AI in Germany and Europe without losing technological sovereignty? What scientific breakthroughs will enable the next generation of intelligent systems? And how can powerful AI models be used responsibly in medicine, business, and society?
AI26 – The Lamarr Conference thus addresses key challenges of the German high-tech agenda, ranging from the transfer of scientific findings into practical applications to the development of sovereign AI infrastructures and the emergence of new AI-based value creation. Among the approximately 50 confirmed speakers are DeepL founder Dr. Jarosław Kutyłowski, this year’s recipient of the Lamarr Award; Ina Brandes, Minister of Culture and Science for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; Dr. Ferri Abolhassan (Deutsche Telekom); Prof. Dr. Ingmar Posner (University of Oxford); Prof. Dr. Sylvain Baillet (CRCHUM Montréal), Dr. Bogdan Georgiev (Google DeepMind), Stefanie Kemp (Sana Clinics), and Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges, who will take the stage at the “Business Reception” on the evening of July 7.
Application Areas & Key technology topics of AI26 – The Lamarr Conference: Foundation Models, Agentic AI and Trustworthy AI
Can Europe create its Own AI Economy?
While the U.S. and China are shaping the global AI competition, issues related to digital infrastructure, technological sovereignty, and European value creation are increasingly coming into focus. AI26 focuses on key questions regarding AI development: What conditions are necessary for scientific excellence to give rise to new products, companies, and economic competitiveness?
Perspectives on this topic range from European AI companies and digital infrastructure to current research on robotics and autonomous systems, as well as AI in medicine and healthcare and AI for breakthroughs in interdisciplinary research.
From Language Models to Agents
With Agentic AI, vision-language-action models—that is, multimodal AI models that combine perception, language, and action—and new developments in robotics, a fundamental shift is underway: In the future, AI systems will not only be able to analyze and generate, but also to plan, act, and operate in real-world environments. Among the international experts in this field are Prof. Dr. Ingmar Posner (University of Oxford) and Dr. Bogdan Georgiev (Google DeepMind), who will provide insights into the use of AI for scientific discovery.
AI in Medicine and Science
Foundation models and other AI methods are opening up new possibilities for diagnostics, research, and patient care. At the same time, the demands for trustworthiness, security, and the integration of AI into clinical processes are increasing. The focus is on current developments in AI in medicine and healthcare, patient-centered AI, AI-assisted diagnostics, and the use of AI in clinical processes. Perspectives on these topics will be provided by, among others, Prof. Dr. Sylvain Baillet, Director of the CRCHUM Research Center at the University of Montréal Hospital, and Stefanie Kemp (CTO of Sana Clinics).
From Research Excellence to Economic and Societal Impact
AI26 combines academic excellence with perspectives from industry, healthcare, politics, and the regional economy. The focus is not only on technological developments but also on the prerequisites for their successful implementation: AI-ready data, governance, digital infrastructure, legal compliance, and the scaling of AI applications.
AI26 – The Lamarr Conference is organized by the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, an AI center of excellence institutionally funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and supported by the University of Bonn, Dortmund University of Technology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML.
Application Areas & ImApplication areas of AI26 – The Lamarr Conference: AI for Science, AI for Health and AI for Business.
The conference will be held in English. Language accessibility will be supported by an AI solution developed by Fraunhofer IAIS for real-time translation of presentations and discussions.
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