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The last weeks were packed with hackathons and events, as well as a new datacenter project by big G.

🚀 AI Austria news

🎙️ AI Austria Podcast ft. Daniel Valtiner (Infineon)

Our fourth podcast episode featured Daniel Valtiner, one of the AI leads at Infineon Technologies. The conversation covers the big questions of the next decade — from open source vs. proprietary models and digital sovereignty, to the industrial reality of AI adoption and the prospect of an “intelligence explosion.”

A deep, technically grounded conversation with one of the most interesting voices in Austria’s AI ecosystem. Thanks as always to our podcast sponsor IBM, and to hosts Ruben Hetfleisch and Bernhard Landrichter. » watch the full interview

⛰️ Recap: Innsbruck Meetup - 3rd Edition

AI Austria hosted the third edition of its Innsbruck meetup series at the University of Innsbruck, bringing together researchers, builders, and practitioners for an evening of technical talks and community exchange. Dr. Lukas Huber shared insights on building sovereign AI infrastructure, while Dr. Nadja Gruber presented AI applications in medical imaging - from neonatal MRI analysis to faster, lower-dose CT reconstruction.

Thanks to everyone who joined and to our Innsbruck host Melanie Balaz. The next Innsbruck meetup is on 17 June - save the date.

🏛️ AI Austria Podcast ft. Florian Tursky

In our fifth podcast episode, former Staatssekretär für Digitalisierung Florian Tursky joins us for a wide-ranging conversation at the intersection of politics, technology, and society. Topics include Austria’s innovation culture, the challenges of large-scale digital government projects like the digital driving licence, and a forward-looking take on the “agentic state” - how citizens might interact with public services powered by AI. » watch the full episode and subscribe to our YouTube channel

🇦🇹 Latest developments

💻 Public AI Hackathon: 25 talents build KI prototypes for federal government

At a two-day hackathon on 4–5 May, the Bundeskanzleramt and TU Austria brought together 25 participants (selected from 200+ applicants) to build AI prototypes for real government challenges. Standout results include a context-aware search tool for data.gv.at and “Law to Code,” which translates 1,700+ funding programs into machine-readable eligibility rules. Selected prototypes will now be evaluated for production deployment. » more

📊 EY KI Readiness Check 2026: many test, few scale

The annual EY study (100+ Austrian executives) reveals a persistent gap: 69% of companies now use AI, but only 8% have scaled it enterprise-wide with measurable results. Nearly half can’t yet assess AI’s economic value, only 22% report strong internal AI expertise, and just 26% consider the EU AI Act relevant to their operations. A reality check that underlines the urgency of AI literacy across Austrian industry. » more

⚖️ How AI is already changing work in Austria

An ORF Science feature published on 1 May examines AI’s impact across Austrian workplaces. Highlights include a Vienna lawyer using “Harvey” — an AI tool costing roughly as much as one employee but collaborating with 25 attorneys simultaneously — and “AI:ssociate,” a locally developed legal research assistant trained on Austrian law. A grounded, human-angle take on AI adoption beyond the hype. » more

🏗️ Google breaks ground on first Austrian data center in Kronstorf

On 23 April, Google started construction on a 42,000 sqm hyperscale data center in Kronstorf, Upper Austria — its first self-built facility in the country. The campus will create 100 permanent jobs, feature off-site heat recovery and solar panels, and includes an AI skilling partnership with FH Upper Austria. A major signal for Austria as a destination for global AI infrastructure. » more

🌏 Asia spotlight

Huawei is deepening its AI intelligent driving partnerships with multiple automotive brands. During the April Beijing Auto Show, Huawei officially launched its Qiankun smart driving system, accelerating the commercialization of AI autonomous driving technology in the Chinese passenger car market.

The Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Data Administration jointly issued the ‘Artificial Intelligence + Education’ Action Plan. AI is no longer an optional advantage, but a mandatory subject.

At the end of April, DeepSeek released the V4 preview version, which comes standard with an ultra-long context window of 1 million tokens (approximately 750,000 characters). V4’s training and inference are supported by Huawei Ascend’s ‘Supernode’ and Cambricon chips, marking the first time a mainstream Chinese large model has achieved an end-to-end ‘de-Nvidia’ path.