Mercedes-Benz joins IPAI to expand scalable, responsible AI

Mercedes-Benz joins IPAI in Heilbronn to expand responsible AI across R&D and production. Learn what it means for scalable AI deployment in Europe today.

Mercedes-Benz has joined the innovation platform IPAI in Heilbronn, framing the move as part of an accelerated company-wide AI push. The automaker says it wants to use artificial intelligence not as a collection of isolated pilots, but as a strategic lever that can scale across its entire value chain—from development and procurement to production, sales, aftersales, IT and everyday office work.

In the announcement, Mercedes-Benz links the membership to two parallel goals: speeding up innovation through collaboration and strengthening Europe’s position as a technology hub while keeping AI development responsible. IPAI, for its part, describes the platform as a place where industry and experts exchange strategically, work on standards, make better use of free and open-source software, and simplify regulatory processes.

Inside Mercedes-Benz, AI is increasingly presented as a copilot: it takes over routine tasks and is meant to free up capacity for higher-value work. The company points to AI-based copilots supporting procurement processes, helping with test-case creation in development, and detecting damage in workshops. In manufacturing, it highlights automated workflows, knowledge management and cloud-based data analysis as tools to improve both efficiency and quality.

A key part of the strategy is broad internal adoption. Mercedes-Benz says it has doubled the daily AI usage rate among employees this year and is targeting a 50% usage rate by the end of 2025. Alongside training and an internal AI community, the company cites a central internal web application that supports employees in their daily work and serves as a platform for cross-departmental information and chatbots. One publicly described example is Mercedes-Benz Direct Chat, an internal web application that uses ChatGPT via Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

Governance and rollout are coordinated by a central AI competence centre, described as a company-wide control hub that supports departments with standardised technologies, platforms and services, and applies mandatory risk-based governance and clear AI principles. On the technology side, Mercedes-Benz highlights “Agent Garden,” a multi-cloud platform currently in beta that is intended to simplify access to and sharing of AI agents across different clouds. The company also says its model intake process has reduced implementation time for new AI models to five weeks with five days of testing.

Mercedes-Benz frames cooperation with IPAI as a route to scalable, applied outcomes where measurable value is created. The release points to potential applications in quality management for AMG engine production and at the Mercedes-Benz Digital Factory Campus in Berlin, where smart technologies are developed for use in the global production network. It also flags longer-term exploration of scenarios such as vehicle behaviour in a connected smart city—areas where the company expects AI to help enhance the driving experience and improve safety.

With Europe sharpening the regulatory framework for AI, the combination of scale, standards and responsible governance is becoming as strategic as the technology itself. Mercedes-Benz is betting that participation in IPAI can provide external impulses and a wider network—supporting a shift from promising use cases to repeatable, industrial-grade deployment.