(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland can be more independent from tech giants like Microsoft when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), says a leading digital sovereignty expert. This content was published on November 12, 2025 - 09:00 6 minutes

I analyse the risks, opportunities and concrete impacts of artificial intelligence on society and everyday life. Since joining SWI swissinfo in 2020, I translate the complexity of science and technology into stories that speak to a global audience. Born in Milan to an Italian-Egyptian family, I have been passionate about knowledge and writing since childhood. I worked between Milan and Paris as a multilingual editor for technology magazines before transitioning to international journalism with SWI swissinfo.

• More from this aut
• Italian Departm

• Italiano it “La Svizzera non deve cedere alla narrativa delle Big Tech” Original Read more:“La Svizzera non deve cedere alla narrativa delle Big

Switzerland is heavily dependent on foreign digital and AI technologies. Some 75% of companiesExternal link in the Alpine country mainly use AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Copilot (part of Microsoft) for tasks like text generation, coding and data analysis. This figure is in line with global trends link

The Swiss government and its administration are also heavily dependent on the digital applications of large US technology companies, especially Microsoft. A change of supplier is considered 'too risky and costly', the administration wrote in a statementExternal link in 2023 announcing the switch to Microsoft 365.

Today, however, there is a growing awareness that relying on technologies from so-called Big Tech – major global players such as Microsoft, Amazon or OpenAI – carries risks. The head of the Swiss armed forces, Thomas Süssli, recently warned of the dangers to national security in an internal letter to the government made public by the online newspaper Republik link

“As long as our documents are in Microsoft's cloud, the US government can access them,” says Matthias Stürmer, director of the Institute for Public Sector Transformation at Bern University of Applied Sciences and an expert on digital sovereignty. Geopolitical risks have increased under the new US presidential administration because“the US government no longer follows the rules”, says Stürmer.

At the end of last year, the Swiss federal administration announced plans to spend CHF140 millionExternal link ($174 million) to renew Microsoft licences for three years. Stürmer believes that if Switzerland invested even 10% of what it spends on IT solutions from large US-based tech companies, it could easily gain more digital sovereignty.

“It is not impossible to get out of the 'gilded prison' of expensive digital services in which Big Tech would like to lock us up,” he says.

When renewing its latest contract with Microsoft, the federal administration said it is exploring open-source alternatives to reduce its“numerous dependencies” on the US tech giant's proprietary software.

Ideal conditions for digital sovereignty

Switzerland is well positioned to build its own digital infrastructure, says Stürmer, thanks to its universities, a strong community of computer engineers, and a growing ecosystem of open-source solutions.

External Content

The Swiss government has already started to invest in national IT infrastructure and technologies. In the field of AI, the country has spent more than CHF100 million francs on the Alps supercomputer and the Swiss AI Initiative, which in September launched Apertus, Switzerland's first fully open and public large-language model (LLM). To strengthen digital transparency, a Swiss lawExternal link requires that all government-owned software are made publicly available – a step forward that EU analysts describe as “a legal milestone”External link at the European level.

Apertus itself, according to Stürmer, is an example of how Switzerland can develop sovereign and European- compliant AI tools that are a viable alternative to those from Big Tech.“They want us to believe that only they are able to create and manage AI, but this is false,” he says.“Switzerland must not give in to this narrative.”

External Content

But not everyone agrees. Marcel Salathé, co-director of the Centre for AI at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), believes that models such as Apertus represent a step forward, but not a breakthrough. Key resources for building AI systems – such as computing power, chips, and data – are still dominated by a few tech powers.“There is no such thing as sovereignty in AI, because this technology is in the hands of China and the United States,” he points out.

>> Read more about why some critical voices believe Switzerland is still far from AI sovereignty:

More More Swiss AI Switzerland's uphill climb to AI sovereignty

This content was published on Nov 7, 2025 Switzerland has invested millions to reduce its dependence on American tech giants. But for many, true sovereignty in artificial intelligence (AI) remains out of reach.

Read more: Switzerland's uphill climb to AI sovere

MENAFN12112025000210011054ID1110331125