Switzerland extends neutrality to artificial intelligence regulation

As world powers rush to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), Switzerland is choosing to remain neutral and let the industry develop at its own pace, extending a hands-off approach for hundreds of years.

China and the United States have taken a huge lead in AI, generating twice as many funded AI startups over the past decade as the next 15 countries combined. Europe is dominated by Germany, France and Great Britain.

Yet Switzerland may have the greatest influence in shaping the future of this technology around the world. The tiny Alpine nation has a huge influence on global regulation, balancing the capitalist Western market, Keynesian Eastern economies and a safety-first European regulatory approach. Although Switzerland’s neutrality began on the military front, it now extends to every aspect of society, including technological regulation.

Livia Walpen, an official at the country’s telecommunications watchdog OFCOM, aptly summed up the Swiss approach: “For Switzerland, no regulation is better than bad regulation.”

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Switzerland is choosing to remain neutral, says Ayisha Piotti, chair of the country’s annual artificial intelligence policy summit. In an interview with an outlet, she revealed that Swiss regulators avoid overarching policies that could stifle innovation.

“We wanted to look at the technology in a specific use case and then fill the regulatory gap. This essentially leads to a sector-specific approach rather than a very large horizontal EU law on artificial intelligence. We don’t focus on technology,” Piotti said.

Even though Switzerland is at the heart of European diplomacy, it is not a member of the European Union. This exempts Swiss AI companies from the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which is the most comprehensive regional framework for artificial intelligence. As with other EU policies, Switzerland will tailor it to the needs of its local companies. According to Swiss artificial intelligence expert Alex Brunner, the government has already started researching the impact of this technology.

“Carefully balancing sound regulation with solid research is the basis of Switzerland’s success. As the freest country in the world, Switzerland offers freedom to innovate. Innovation requires the freedom to be creative,” commented Brunner.

Switzerland’s neutrality is a bold approach. Around the world, many leading experts in artificial intelligence have warned of the dangers of uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence as the technology becomes more powerful by the day. For some researchers, these concerns were so great that they left lucrative positions and risked losing millions of dollars by raising alarm about the dangers of this technology.

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