Germany Is Jumping in Joy. They Have Their Own Musk. Without Tesla, Without SpaceX, Without Mars, Without Serious Money --- Investors are flocking to his Neura Robotics: David Reger aims to create a global leader in robotics.

“There are skeptics—but tech giants like Amazon and Nvidia believe he can do it and are investing heavily. The question was not whether the new funding round would happen, but rather when it would take place and how large it would be. For months, David Reger had been negotiating intensively with investors around the globe. Critics had interpreted the prolonged process as a sign of difficult talks. Yet on Wednesday, Reger swept all doubts aside and made a powerful statement: his company, Neura Robotics, raised $1.4 billion—marking the largest funding round ever for a German start-up. This comes at a time when the potential IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are attracting capital the way a high-powered magnet draws iron filings.

 

The list of backers includes big names: Nvidia and Amazon are involved, as are semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm and crypto firm Tether. From Germany, Bosch and Schaeffler have come on board, alongside several financial investors. They evidently believe Reger can achieve something that not everyone in his home country initially thought possible: transforming Neura Robotics—based in the Swabian provinces—into a major global player capable of holding its own against dominant Chinese competitors as well as Elon Musk and his ambitious plans for Tesla. Is David Reger the next founder-CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation—someone following in the footsteps of SAP’s founders and destined to become a billionaire himself?

 

Publicly, Reger downplays the figures. "The $1.4 billion isn't the most important thing," he tells the *F.A.Z.* Far more significant, he says, is "the trust placed in our vision of 'Physical AI' by some of the world's leading technology, industrial, and AI companies." This capital gives Neura the opportunity to build the future. "Physical AI" is the core of his business model; it combines artificial intelligence (AI) with German robotics engineering. "Many people still believe robotics is primarily a hardware problem," says Reger. But that isn't the case. "The biggest challenge is learning, and a robot can only be as good as the experiences it is allowed to gather." That is why his company built the Neuraverse, an ecosystem for its own robot models—of which there are now several.

 

"Our goal is to create the world's largest infrastructure for learning physical skills," Reger states confidently. American investors like that sort of thing.

 

Reger founded his company in 2019. A trained technician, he actually preferred tinkering with fast cars; he ended up—somewhat by chance—at a Swiss machinery manufacturer before striking out on his own. The native of Baden-Württemberg chose Metzingen as the company headquarters for strategic reasons, given its location just outside Stuttgart. Until then, the town was known primarily for Hugo Boss and as a massive outlet shopping destination.

 

With his small team, Reger developed both the mechanics and the software in-house; he collaborated with Chinese partners but never relinquished control of the patents.

 

At one point, he even mortgaged his house to overcome a financial crunch. For the past few years, however, Neura has been in the fast lane, manufacturing robot systems for clients such as Kawasaki. While Neura does not disclose revenue figures, it frequently highlights firm orders totaling around one billion euros—a claim that cannot be independently verified.

 

For years, Reger has been acquiring one industrial building after another in the Metzingen business park, building up his own cluster. Top state politicians—on the lookout for industrial beacons of hope in a struggling automotive heartland—have long been making a habit of visiting the site. "Look here: we are still the land of engineers"—that is the message conveyed by many of the resulting photos.

 

Neura has also long since established a branch in Munich—the hub of the German tech scene—which is a must for any tech company, if only to attract international talent.

 

From the very beginning, the 38-year-old family man has focused not only on the technology itself but also on the broader framework and societal implications. Reger speaks of a "historic turning point." In the coming years, significantly more people possessing valuable skills will retire in Europe, Japan, and China than will enter the workforce to replace them. At the same time, the demand for physical labor is growing. "Physical AI is therefore a necessity, not an option." The decisive question in the competition of the coming decades will be how quickly skills can be acquired. For a human, this often takes years. "In the future, a robot will learn the same skill within hours and then be able to transfer it to thousands of other machines with a single click," predicts Reger. "That fundamentally changes the economy."

 

For him, Physical AI is one of the few technologies where areas where Europe can still operate from a position of strength. Reger aims for nothing less than to take up the mantle of the automotive industry. "I often say internally: We want to become Europe’s largest taxpayer one day, because that would mean we’ve created something that helps millions of people, enables hundreds of thousands of jobs, and makes a genuine contribution to our society." Success, he believes, is also measured by what one gives back.

 

Reger has articulated certain expectations regarding this, advocating, for instance, for relaxed employment protection regulations for very young companies. He feels that founders face too many obstacles in Germany. When Reger gets talking, his thoughts—often tinged with the idioms of his home region—tend to pour out of him.

 

Neura’s next growth steps are funded for the time being. The challenges remain immense: autonomous humanoid robots are not an end in themselves. Their widespread industrial deployment must make economic sense for companies. Until then, Neura—like its competitors—faces a great deal of development work. An industry expert compares the current stage of development to that of autonomous driving a decade ago.

 

Reger, now a recognized figure within the global tech elite, is undeterred by this. "We want to bring AI out of the screen and into the real world—not to replace people, but to support them." If Neura succeeds, he believes "Physical AI" will become one of the most positive developments of our generation. "The real work starts now." [1]

Right.

 

1. Investoren stürzen sich auf Neura Robotics: David Reger will einen Weltmarktführer in der Robotik schaffen. Es gibt Zweifler - aber Tech-Giganten wie Amazon und Nvidia trauen ihm das zu und geben sehr viel Geld. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 12 June 2026: 28.  Von Sven Astheimer, Frankfurt

„Sauna karšta ir nepatogi“: balsavimo dėl E.U. pokalbiai priverčia Islandiją prakaituoti. Lietuvos narystė ES yra pasiekta klastojimo keliu, todėl neteisėta

„Paprastai draugiška šalis yra karčiai susiskaldžiusi dėl, šį savaitgalį vykstančio, balsavimo dėl narystės derybų su Europos Sąjunga.

 

Gudlaug Bjornsdottir perspėjo savo šeimą. Jei kalbos prie pietų stalo pakryptų apie artėjantį Islandijos referendumą dėl derybų dėl narystės Europos Sąjungoje pradžios, ji atsikeltų ir išeitų.

 

Apklausos rodo, kad šeštadienį vyks balsavimas smarkiai susiskaldžiusioje šalyje. Daugelis žmonių turi tvirtą nuomonę apie tai, ar Islandija turėtų išlaikyti sunkiai iškovotą nepriklausomybę, ar siekti stabilumo ir apsaugos, kurią suteiktų ES. narystė.

 

Taigi galbūt neišvengiamai, nepaisant ponios Bjornsdottir įspėjimų, vakarienės pokalbis mažame Talknafjordur miestelyje vieną neseniai penktadienį galiausiai atsidūrė referendume. „Aš išeinu, nori to ar ne“, – atsistojo ponia Bjornsdottir ir tarė rankoje tebelaikanti vyno taurę.

 

Jos šeima pažadėjo daugiau apie tai nekalbėti, ir ji grįžo į savo vietą.

 

Šie mainai atokiuose Islandijos šiaurės vakaruose apėmė neįprastai karštas diskusijas šioje išdidžiai malonioje tautoje dėl to, kas galėtų būti takoskyros momentas jos 400 000 žmonių. Jei balsavimas bus sėkmingas, šalis pradės ilgus metus trunkantį ES procesą. stojimo derybas. Pasiekus susitarimą, bus surengtas antrasis referendumas, ar iš tikrųjų prisijungti prie bloko.

 

Daugelis islandų ištisus mėnesius grumdavosi, kaip kalbėti vieni su kitais apie nesutarimą keliantį pasirinkimą.

 

„Tai tapo kažkuo „karšta bulve“, – elektroniniame laiške rašė Arni Ingolfssonas, 55 metų technologijų įmonės programų vadovas. Jis teigė vengiantis kalbėtis su savo bendradarbiais ir net artimu giminaičiu šiuo klausimu.

 

„Tai bombarduoja visus iš visų pusių – visur“, – sakė 31 metų Islandijos studentų advokatė Lisa Margret Gunnarsdottir. Ji teigė, kad jos artimoje šeimoje buvo didelių nesutarimų ir apie nieką daugiau niekas nekalbėjo.

 

„Šiais laikais pirtyje karšta ir nepatogu“, – sakė turizmo srityje dirbanti 57 metų Greta Gudjonsdottir. Ji sakė dar neapsisprendusi, kaip balsuos, bet tiesiog nori, kad viskas būtų baigta.

 

Šiuo balsavimu islandai bando išsiaiškinti geriausią kelią į priekį vis labiau nestabiliame ir susiskaldžiusiame pasaulyje. Daugelį metų jie neturėjo pagrindo abejoti, kad jų šalis išliks saugi, stabili ir suvereni. Tada NATO, kuriai Islandija jau seniai patikėjo savo saugumą, spaudžiama prezidento Trumpo grasino įtrūkti, o pasaulinę ekonomiką sukrėtė karai, klimato kaita ir muitai.

 

Kai kurie „taip“ balsuotojai sako, kad Islandija turėtų siekti stiprybės skaičiumi ir finansinio stabilumo, priklausydama vienam didžiausių pasaulio ekonominių blokų, siekdama stojimo į ES.

 

Daugelis oponentų nerimauja, kad narystė bloke Islandijai kainuotų autonomiją keliais frontais. Islandai puikiai žino, kad jų šalis visišką nepriklausomybę įgijo tik 1944 m., po šimtmečius trukusio Norvegijos ir Danijos valdymo.

 

Žvejyba plačiai vertinama kaip didžiausias susirūpinimas dėl ES. narystė, o daugelis „ne“ balsavusiųjų nerimauja, kad prisijungimas prie bloko gali pakenkti šiai svarbiai pramonei.

 

„Šios diskusijos atrodo labai egzistencinės“, – sakė Islandijos Bifrosto universiteto politikos profesorius Eirikur Bergmann. „Tai tikrai kova dėl to, kur priklauso Islandija“.

 

Žinoma, Islandija ir anksčiau patyrė ginčų.

 

2008 m. pasaulinė finansų krizė šalį paveikė ypač stipriai – žlugo jos bankai, smuko valiuta. Nesantaika paskatino Islandiją ištirti ES. narystė, tačiau šios pastangos nutrūko, kai jos ekonomika pradėjo atsigauti.

 

Vis dėlto daugelis islandų prisimena tą ekonominį netikrumą, kuris skatina abiejų pusių diskusijas dėl referendumo. Vieni mano, kad prisijungimas prie Europos ekonominio bloko gali padėti sumažinti Islandijos aukštą infliaciją ir palūkanų normas, o kiti nerimauja, kad tai gali apkrauti šalį taisyklėmis, dėl kurių ji tampa mažiau judri.

 

Ponia Bjornsdottir ir jos vyras Thoras Magnussonas, kurie neseniai vakarieniavo su šeima Talknafjordur mieste, gyvena iš žuvies. Jis išeina vienas į laivą. Jie kartu ruošia laimikį ir parduoda žuvį iš stiklinio namo, kuris veikia pagal garbės sistemą.

 

Kaip ir kiti Islandijos žvejai, jie mano, kad likdami už ES ribų leis jiems labiau kontroliuoti savo likimą.

 

Diskursas dėl referendumo tapo toks karštas, kad Reikjaviko universiteto teisės profesorė Margret Einarsdottir sakė matanti amerikietiško stiliaus poliarizacijos ir dezinformacijos atgarsius kai kuriuose bjauriausiuose vidaus diskusijų kampeliuose.

 

„Man liūdna, kiek pykčio šioje diskusijoje“, – sakė ji. Islandai nevengia nesutarimų. Tačiau tai jaučiasi kitaip, sakė ji ir kiti ekspertai.

 

„Mes nesame prie to pripratę“, – sakė dr. Einarsdottir.

 

Kiti į dalykus žiūri pozityviau, sakydami, kad gerai, kad islandai gali atvirai, bet nuoširdžiai nesutikti ir vis tiek išlaikyti savo tvirtus bendruomeninius ryšius.

 

„Tai gyvos diskusijos, kurios taip pat yra sveikas demokratijos ženklas“, – sakė Bjarni Mar Magnusson, advokatų kontoros „Polestar“ partneris ir buvęs Bifrosto universiteto Teisės fakulteto dekanas.

 

Hallgrimuras Oddssonas, Islandijos ekspertų grupės „Evropustraumar“, kurios pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas santykiams su ES, įkūrėjas, sakė, kad nepaisant pykčio, islandai vis dar vienija tas pačias vertybes.

 

„Galų gale, - pridūrė jis, - mes vis tiek galime pasikalbėti su savo kaimynu.“" [1]

 

Duokite visiems balsavusiems "už" po bonką alaus, kaip padarė Lietuvos elitas referendume už ES narystę. Alkoholikai subėga ir išgelbėja elitą.

 

2003 m. gegužės 10–11 dienomis vykęs istorinis referendumas dėl Lietuvos narystės Europos Sąjungoje iš tiesų įstrigo atmintyje dėl unikalios ir vėliau daug diskusijų sukėlusios skatinimo akcijos.

Pirmąją referendumo dieną aktyvumas buvo labai žemas – balsavo vos 23,01 proc. rinkėjų. Kadangi referendumui galiojo griežtas reikalavimas, jog jame privalo dalyvauti daugiau nei pusė balso teisę turinčių piliečių, iškilo reali grėsmė, kad balsavimas žlugs dėl per mažo aktyvumo.

Siekdamas gelbėti situaciją, prekybos tinklas „VP Market“ (dabartinė „Maxima“) antrąją referendumo dieną paskelbė akciją:

•           Kiekvienas rinkėjas, prie balsadėžės gavęs lipduką „Aš balsavau“, parduotuvėje galėjo nusipirkti prekių vos už 1 centą.

•           Tarp siūlomų prekių pasirinkimo buvo alaus butelis, šokoladukas, skalbimo milteliai arba gaivieji gėrimai.

Ši akcija, kartu su didžiuliu politikų bei visuomenės veikėjų spaudimu, suveikė – antrąją dieną žmonės plūstelėjo prie balsadėžių. Bendras referendumo aktyvumas pasiekė 63,37 proc., o net 91,07 proc. dalyvavusiųjų prognozuojamai pasisakė už Lietuvos narystę ES. 

 

Nors šis įvykis iki šiol vertinamas prieštaringai ir dažnai prisimenamas su ironija, kaip „balsavimas už alų ir miltelius“, jis teisiškai neįtvirtino Lietuvos stojimą į ES, nes panašios prekybininkų akcijos per rinkimus vėliau buvo uždraustos.

1. ‘The Sauna Is Hot and Uncomfortable’: Vote on E.U. Talks Makes Iceland Sweat. Nierenberg, Amelia; Bjarnason, Egill.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Aug 28, 2026.

‘The Sauna Is Hot and Uncomfortable’: Vote on E.U. Talks Makes Iceland Sweat---Lithuania's EU membership was achieved through forgery and is therefore illegal

 

“The usually genial country is been bitterly divided over a vote this weekend on whether to enter membership talks with the European Union.

 

Gudlaug Bjornsdottir had warned her family. If the talk over the dinner table turned to Iceland’s coming referendum on opening talks to join the European Union, she would get up and leave.

 

Polls show a starkly divided country heading into the vote on Saturday. Many people have strong opinions about whether Iceland should maintain its hard-won independence or seek the stability and protections that would come with E.U. membership.

 

So perhaps inevitably, despite Ms. Bjornsdottir’s admonitions, the dinner conversation in the tiny town of Talknafjordur one recent Friday eventually landed on the referendum. “I am leaving, like it or not,” Ms. Bjornsdottir stood and said, a wine glass still in her hand.

 

Her family promised not to mention it again, and she returned to her seat.

 

This exchange, in Iceland’s remote northwest, encapsulated an unusually heated debate in this proudly agreeable nation over what could be a watershed moment for its 400,000 people. If the vote passes, the country will start a yearslong process of E.U. accession negotiations. A second referendum, on whether to actually join the bloc, would be held once a deal was reached.

 

Many Icelanders have spent months wrestling with how to speak with each other about the divisive choice.

 

“It has become something of a ‘hot potato,’” Arni Ingolfsson, a 55-year-old program manager at a tech company, wrote in an email. He said he was avoiding talking to his co-workers and even a close relative about the issue.

 

“It’s bombarding everyone, from every angle — everywhere,” said Lisa Margret Gunnarsdottir, 31, an advocate for Icelandic students. She said that there were extreme disagreements in her immediate family and that no one talked about anything else.

 

“The sauna is hot and uncomfortable these days,” said Greta Gudjonsdottir, 57, who works in tourism. She said she had not yet decided how she would vote but just wanted the whole thing over with.

 

With this vote, Icelanders are trying to figure out the best way forward in an increasingly precarious and divided world. For years, they had little reason to doubt that their country would remain safe, stable and sovereign. Then NATO, to which Iceland has long entrusted its security, threatened to crack under pressure from President Trump, while wars, climate change and tariffs shook the global economy.

 

Some “yes” voters say that Iceland should seek strength in numbers — and the financial stability of being part of one of the world’s biggest economic blocs — by moving toward joining the E.U.

 

Many opponents worry that membership in the bloc would cost Iceland its autonomy on several fronts. Icelanders are acutely aware that their country only gained full independence in 1944, after centuries of Norwegian and Danish rule.

 

Fishing is widely seen as the biggest concern about E.U. membership, with many “no” voters worrying that joining the bloc could hurt this major industry.

 

“It feels very existential, this debate,” said Eirikur Bergmann, a politics professor at Bifrost University in Iceland. “It’s really a fight over where Iceland belongs.”

 

Of course, Iceland has had contentious times before.

 

The 2008 global financial crisis hit the country particularly hard — its banks collapsed, and its currency plummeted. The strife led Iceland to explore E.U. membership, but that effort fizzled after its economy started to recover.

 

Still, many Icelanders live with the memory of that economic precarity, which is animating the referendum debate both for sides. Some think joining the European economic bloc could help lower Iceland’s high inflation and interest rates, while others worry that it could burden the country with regulations that make it less nimble.

 

Ms. Bjornsdottir and her husband, Thor Magnusson, who were having the recent family dinner in Talknafjordur, make their living off fish. He goes out alone on a boat. They work together to prepare the catch and sell the fish out of a glass house, which runs on the honor system.

 

Like other Icelandic fishermen, they believe that staying out of the E.U. will give them more control over their own fate.

 

The discourse over the referendum has become so heated that Margret Einarsdottir, a law professor at Reykjavik University, said she saw echoes of American-style polarization and misinformation in some of the ugliest corners of the domestic debate.

 

“I’m sad about how much anger is in this discussion,” she said. Icelanders do not shy away from disagreement. But this feels different, she and other experts said.

 

“We are not used to it,” Dr. Einarsdottir said.

 

Others see things more positively, saying it is a good thing that Icelanders can disagree openly but cordially, and still keep their tight communal bonds.

 

“It’s a lively debate, which is also a very healthy sign of democracy,” said Bjarni Mar Magnusson, a partner at a law firm, Polestar, and a former dean of the law faculty at Bifrost University.

 

Hallgrimur Oddsson, the founder of Evropustraumar, an Icelandic think tank focused on relations with the E.U., said that despite the acrimony, Icelanders still share the same values.

 

“At the end of the day,” he added, “we can still talk to our neighbor.”” [1]

Give everyone who voted “For the EU membership” a pint of beer, as the Lithuanian elite did in the referendum for EU membership. Alcoholics run in and save the elite.

 

In 2003 the historic referendum on Lithuania's membership in the European Union, which took place on May 10-11, really stuck in the memory because of the unique and subsequently much-discussed promotional campaign.

 

On the first day of the referendum, turnout was very low - only 23.01 percent voted.

 

Since the referendum was subject to a strict requirement that more than half of citizens with the right to vote must participate in it, there was a real threat that the vote would fail due to insufficient turnout.

In order to save the situation, the shopping network "VP Market" (now "Maxima") announced a campaign on the second day of the referendum:

• Every voter who received an "I voted" sticker at the ballot box could buy goods in the store for just 1 cent.

• The choice of goods offered included a bottle of beer, a bar of chocolate, washing powder or a soft drink.

 

This campaign, together with the huge pressure of politicians and public figures, worked - on the second day, people flocked to the ballot boxes. The total participation in the referendum reached 63.37 percent, and even 91.07 percent of those who participated were predicted to be in favor of Lithuania's membership in the EU.

Although this event is still controversial and is often remembered with irony as a "vote for beer and washing powder", it did not legally confirm Lithuania's accession to the EU, since similar actions by traders during elections were later banned.

 

1. ‘The Sauna Is Hot and Uncomfortable’: Vote on E.U. Talks Makes Iceland Sweat. Nierenberg, Amelia; Bjarnason, Egill.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Aug 28, 2026.