RedeVeröffentlicht am 25. März 2026

Opening address by Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi at the ‹100 Digital Shapers of Switzerland› Event

Zürich, 24.03.2026 — Eröffnungsrede in Zürich

Sehr geehrter Herr Nationalrat Grüter
Geschätzte Damen und Herren
Mesdames et Messieurs
Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me take you back 210 years. To the year 1816, to be precise. It would still be another 60 years before Thomas Edison introduced his light bulb.[1]

An eruption at Mount Tambora in Indonesia was to have a massive impact on the climate around the world. Dark clouds blocked the sunlight. Crops failed across Europe and torrential rains led to flooding in the United States; crime became rampant, and people starved in many countries.[2] It became known as the year without a summer.

During this devastating period, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, corresponded with his friend John Adams. Despite the horrific circumstances, he wrote, ‹I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.›[3] [4]

I don’t think the circumstances are comparable. But we, too, currently find ourselves in the midst of a series of global crises. Society relies on ‹shapers› who believe in dreams of the future, especially in uncertain times. People such as yourselves – and young people in classrooms and lecture halls across the country who are not yet among us. I’m therefore delighted to be standing here to address you today. This event honours a hundred outstanding individuals in Switzerland who have made a significant contribution to the digital sector, and who are driving forward digital transformation. I offer my thanks and appreciation to all of you.

Thomas Jefferson died on the fourth of July 1826, ten years after the ‹year without a summer›[5] and on the same day as his friend John Adams. To say that much has happened since then would be an understatement. The industrial and electrical revolutions are behind us. Today we are caught up in the digital revolution. Since OpenAI’s breakthrough with ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has shaped this digital revolution. It is therefore not surprising that many of this year’s digital shapers are involved in AI. The most innovative in this field are honoured with their own category as ‹AI Acrobats›.

***

AI, ladies and gentlemen, offers a host of opportunities for the Swiss economy and society. Switzerland can excel as a research hub, thanks to its skilled workforce, multilingualism and the fact that it is a reliable and stable location. For years, Switzerland has had one of the highest densities of data centres in Europe.[6] Some companies have even gone so far as to convert former military bunkers into data centres.[7]

Trust in Switzerland is also linked to its increasingly established culture of openness. Switzerland was the first country to introduce a law mandating ‹Public Money, Public Code›, whereby software developed by the state must be made available as open source.[8] Apertus[9], the first fully open large language model, was also developed in Switzerland – built jointly by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre. Clearly it wouldn’t be able to keep up with the big players – but it does go to show that Switzerland is capable of creating a large model, even with limited resources. And it has made it freely available to the wider community, along with the training data.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need many more initiatives like this. And more entrepreneurs, politicians, researchers, and ‹shapers› like you, who have ideas and turn them into viable projects. Digital Switzerland sees potential for the Swiss economy to achieve an additional 80 billion Swiss francs in annual GDP growth through AI in the coming years.[10] Companies such as Roche and Novartis are using AI in their research and product development. And the airline Swiss uses AI to analyse real-time data on crew, passengers and flights to optimise rotations and scheduling.

Such projects are just the beginning. They show what is possible. At the same time, it’s worth pointing out that forecasters don’t agree on just how great the potential really is.

We all know: Making estimates is difficult – especially when they concern the future.

***

As Federal Chancellor, I’m very much involved in the digital transformation process. The role of the Federal Council – and indeed my own role as well – is to put in place the best possible framework conditions so that Switzerland remains a world-class location in the future. As Federal Chancellor, I also have the task of laying the groundwork to ensure that AI can be used to best effect within the Federal Administration. Needless to say, that’s precisely what we’re doing. After all it’s a constitutional requirement: State tasks must be fulfilled economically and in accordance with demand.[11] With this in mind, allow me to highlight two aspects:

Firstly: AI as a technology should be useful and deliver genuine progress and added value for the economy and society. The fact that AI tools can be misused to generate images of a sexual or violent nature is certainly more than disturbing. In comparison, the innocuous little gimmicks with text and images can be quite amusing. But we all know that AI tools can also come up with utter garbage. Or at least output that has absolutely nothing to do with the prompt given. As a trained chef, for me it’s a bit like a waiter who asks the guest while collecting the bill, «So, what did you have?» And the guest replies, «You’ll have to ask the chef. I ordered the trout.»

So, what kind of applications deliver real added value rather than just efficiency gains? Well, there are researchers at the University of Basel who, thanks to deep learning techniques, have discovered millions of new proteins. This could speed up the development of cures for countless incurable diseases such as diabetes and cancer.[12] Then there are researchers and entrepreneurs who, with the help of AI, can detect major fires even before they break out.[13] This examples show us: Tomorrow, AI will help us make progress in areas we haven’t even thought of today.

It is therefore a matter of using AI sensibly. However, we must also ensure that we bring people along with us. And that’s the second aspect. This applies to the state especially, but it can also be seen as a general guiding principle. With that in mind, we have also developed an AI strategy for the Federal Administration. It focuses on three key areas: [14]

1. Developing skills: Employees must have the necessary skills to be able to use AI systems.

2. Earning trust: The Federal Administration should use AI systems for the common good and in a responsible manner. Through its internal guidelines, it ensures that AI systems are used in compliance with the law and in accordance with ethical standards.

3. Increasing efficiency: AI should be used to create benefits. The Federal Administration aims to use AI systems to save time and money and allow employees to be relieved of routine tasks.

Developing skills
Earning trust
Increasing efficiency

Those are the principles we apply when using AI in the Federal Administration. And that’s how we’re bringing the administration’s employees along with us, as well as the public and businesses.

We saw recently how close the vote was on the state e-ID.[15] We face, and will continue to face, challenges in this area. The same applies to the use of AI by the state.

A study by the Federal Chancellery showed, for example, that fewer than 40 per cent of respondents generally support the use of AI applications in government communications. However, for specific tasks, the use of AI by the authorities receives far greater approval – 80 per cent when it comes to translations, for example.[16] In other words, people support the use of AI when it makes sense and the benefits are clear.

Applications with genuine added value lead to a broader acceptance of AI. This is where you, esteemed digital shapers, can help. AI in itself does not have value. It is a matter of harnessing AI to create something meaningful and sustainable. So, I call on you to generate this added value! Not just for the economy, but also for society as a whole.

***

In closing, I would like to come back to Thomas Jefferson. In a letter written during the long, cold summer of 1816, forty years after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, he wrote, ‹Old Europe will have to lean on our shoulders, and hobble along by our side›.[17]

Ladies and gentlemen, the success and power of US tech firms in the field of AI are impressive. However, it would be premature to write off Europe, and with it Switzerland. The French AI model Mistral can hold its own against the industry giants, and just two weeks ago it was announced that the Paris-based company AMI had secured investment of over a billion dollars. A record sum for a European AI firm.[18]

It is now up to shapers like you to determine how firmly we stand on our own two feet tomorrow and how we can help shape the future with our own innovations.

With that in mind, I would like to thank you all for helping to prepare us for the future, both in the field of AI and in all other key areas of digital transformation.

Thank you for your commitment to Switzerland.

And thank you for your attention.

Fussnoten:

[1] Frequently Asked Questions - Thomas Edison National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

[2] 1816 – The Year Without a Summer (U.S. National Park Service)

[3] Monticello | Dreams of the future... (Quotation)

[4] To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 1 August 1816

[5] Thomas Jefferson and John Adams | 4 July 1826 | HISTORY

[6] AI drives data centre boom in Switzerland - News - SRF

[7] 5 Swiss military bunkers that have been creatively repurposed

[8] SR 172.019 – Federal Act of 17 March 2023 on the Use of Electronic Means to Fulfil Public Authority Tasks (EMBAG) | Fedlex

[9] Apertus: a fully open, transparent, multilingual language model | ETH Zurich