At CES 2026, NVIDIA and Siemens announced an expansion of their long-standing partnership centered on the development of what the companies describe as an Industrial AI Operating System. The announcement framed the effort as a platform-level initiative rather than a discrete product launch, emphasizing system integration across industrial design, manufacturing, and operational workflows.

According to the companies, the initiative is intended to span the industrial lifecycle, linking simulation, automation, and AI-driven analysis within a shared operating context. The disclosures emphasized architectural alignment over deployment specifics, with no commercial availability, customer deployments, or validated performance benchmarks provided.

Defining the Industrial AI Operating System

NVIDIA and Siemens describe the Industrial AI Operating System as a framework for embedding AI across industrial processes, from early design and engineering through factory operations and supply-chain management. The concept is positioned as an integration layer intended to connect models, simulation environments, and operational data across stages of production, rather than as a replacement for existing industrial control or automation systems.

The companies did not disclose a formal software architecture or executable specification for the operating system. Instead, CES materials characterized it as an organizing framework designed to align simulation tools, AI models, and industrial software within existing workflows, rather than as a single deployable system.

Above: a photo of The Siemens CES 2026 Keynote with NVIDIA and Roland Busch and Jensen Huang Talking. Photo from the Siemens Keynote video on YouTube. Used under the fair use provision.

NVIDIA’s Role: Infrastructure, Simulation, and AI Platforms

Under the expanded partnership, NVIDIA stated that it will contribute AI infrastructure, simulation libraries, models, frameworks, and reference blueprints to support the Industrial AI Operating System. These components are intended to provide the computational and software foundation for training, simulating, and deploying AI-driven industrial applications.

NVIDIA framed its role as that of a platform provider, supplying AI and simulation capabilities rather than operating industrial systems directly. No specific hardware configurations, deployment timelines, or validated performance characteristics tied to the operating system were disclosed.

Siemens’ Contributions: Industrial Software and Automation Expertise

Siemens described its role as providing industrial domain expertise alongside its existing software and automation portfolio. This includes industrial software platforms, automation technologies, and engineering tools designed to integrate AI into established industrial environments.

In its CES 2026 disclosures, Siemens highlighted technologies such as Digital Twin Composer and industrial copilots as part of its broader industrial AI strategy. The tools were positioned as supporting AI-assisted engineering, simulation, and operational decision-making, without specific performance metrics or adoption details disclosed.

Siemens and NVIDIA also stated that the expanded partnership includes plans to integrate GPU acceleration across portions of Siemens’ engineering and simulation software portfolio. According to the companies, this includes support for NVIDIA CUDA-X™ libraries and physics-based AI models, as well as the use of NVIDIA PhysicsNeMo™ technologies to enable generative simulation and AI-assisted digital twin development. These components were described as part of the underlying platform architecture rather than as standalone commercial offerings.

Digital Twins and Adaptive Manufacturing Context

Digital twins were presented as a foundational element of the collaboration, linking design data with operational systems. The approach was described as enabling simulation of industrial systems, virtual testing of changes, and closer alignment between AI models and real-world processes.

Siemens referenced its Electronics Factory in Erlangen, Germany, as an environment where aspects of the Industrial AI Operating System are expected to be applied beginning in 2026. This effort was characterized as a reference or blueprint environment rather than a broadly deployed production system.

NVIDIA and Siemens further stated that Siemens plans to extend GPU acceleration across portions of its electronic design automation (EDA) portfolio. The companies cited targeted speedups ranging from approximately two to ten times for selected verification, layout, and optimization workflows. These figures were presented as stated objectives associated with GPU-accelerated engineering processes rather than as independently validated benchmark results.

The companies also described the collaboration as establishing a repeatable blueprint for AI-enabled manufacturing facilities. This blueprint framing was characterized as addressing system-level considerations such as power availability, cooling requirements, and automation infrastructure alongside AI deployment, rather than as a finalized factory design.

Above: a photo of Jensen Huang and Roland Busch discussing Siemens and NVIDIA's partnership with Digital Twins at CES 2026. Photo from the Siemens Keynote video on YouTube. Used under the fair use provision.

Design Through Operations

Across their public statements, the partnership emphasized continuity across industrial stages, from engineering and simulation through manufacturing and operations. The Industrial AI Operating System was described as enabling shared data models and AI workflows across these phases, with the goal of reducing fragmentation between design tools and operational systems. Based on the information made public, the NVIDIA-Siemens collaboration reflects an effort to align AI platforms, simulation tools, and industrial software within a coordinated operating framework, with any measurable operational outcomes dependent on future implementations and validation beyond the demonstration context.

Above: a photo of the Siemens NVIDIA Keynote at CES 2026 from the seats at the Palazzo Ballroom in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by David Aughinbaugh II for CircuitRoute.