The Innovation and Platform Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) has reached another milestone: over 40 partners from industry, science and research have joined the IPAI ecosystem. The aim is to accelerate AI collaboration in companies and promote the implementation of scientific findings in industrial applications.

The partner network provides specialised AI services, consulting and infrastructure via the IPAI platform, supporting member companies in the implementation of complex AI solutions. Key partners include:

• Aleph Alpha with its AI suite PhariaAI, which enables the development of proprietary AI infrastructures, the creation of custom agents and integration into enterprise-wide systems.
• The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) with its research and innovation centre KODIS, which transfers scientific methods into practical applications and supports human-centred, trustworthy AI solutions.
• appliedAI, a joint venture between IPAI and UnternehmerTUM, offers strategic implementation, management systems, maturity analyses, and action plans for individual AI applications.
• Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group, provides powerful cloud solutions and computing capacities for the implementation of complex AI workloads.

The initiative aims to establish an application-oriented, collaborative AI ecosystem on a European basis. With more than 80 members and partners from business, politics and society, Heilbronn is becoming the ‘Global Home of Human AI’, a central location for European AI research and application.

At its heart is the IPAI CAMPUS, located on a 30-hectare site in the north of Heilbronn. In future, the campus will offer capacity for around 5,000 specialists focusing on AI topics. Construction will start at the end of 2026, with the first buildings scheduled for completion by the end of 2027.

The initiators of the platform are the state of Baden-Württemberg, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the companies of the Schwarz Group and the city of Heilbronn. IPAI thus closes the gap between excellent research and industrial application, creates infrastructure for collaborative AI development and establishes European standards for responsible AI solutions.