• Swisscom is strengthening its commitment to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Switzerland and has become a member of the Swiss National AI Institute (SNAI) of ETH Zurich and EPFL.
• This partnership accelerates the development of innovative, reliable and trustworthy AI products and services for the Swiss economy and strengthens Swiss sovereignty in the field of AI.

Over the coming years, the rapid development of AI modelling will cause far-reaching changes in science, society and business. To remain competitive in the global AI landscape and put Swiss AI research at the international forefront, ETH Zurich and EPFL (Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne) established the Swiss National AI Institute (SNAI) in 2024.

By joining the SNAI, Swisscom is striving to establish even closer relations with research in the field of large-scale generative AI and supercomputing. The aim is to work together to make full use of the potential of digitalisation for the Swiss society and economy as well as to ensure knowledge transfer between research and industry.

National AI initiative to strengthen the Swiss economy

The SNAI accelerates the implementation of the Swiss AI research initiative launched by the two universities in 2023. This aims to research and develop open-source foundation models, such as a Swiss AI language model.

To improve training algorithms, the initiative develops relevant benchmarks and creates carefully curated datasets that prioritise transparency and bias reduction and promote trustworthy human-AI interactions. It furthermore designs optimised architectures that increase the efficiency of training and interference and therefore create far more energy-efficient systems. A further focus area lies in increasing the availability of critical GenAI talent, knowledge sharing and capacity development.

Secure and trustworthy development of AI in Switzerland

As a strategic partner of the initiative, Swisscom plays an important role in establishing a strong, national ecosystem that enables industry and authorities to work together on the basis of shared foundations and values. This strengthens Swiss sovereignty in the field of generative AI and positions Switzerland as a leading AI country.

“Switzerland’s academic institutions are world leading when it comes to AI research. We are proud to be working with ETH Zurich and EPFL, and helping the institutions use this groundbreaking research to provide tangible social and economic benefits. With our Swiss AI platform and our specialist data expertise, we will contribute to the safe and trustworthy development of AI in Switzerland”, says Isa Müller-Wegner, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Swisscom.