Switzerland attracts artificial intelligence, but not every company stays

In 2025 Switzerland had more than 110 artificial intelligence researchers per 100,000 inhabitants. According to Stanford's AI Index Report 2026 that is the highest density in the world, twice that of the United States and of rival hubs such as the United Kingdom.

The pull shows in companies' decisions. Google's Zurich office is the group's largest design centre outside the United States. Between 2024 and 2026, OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Apple and Meta expanded their research activities in the country.

The list continues. Jeff Bezos's Prometheus project opened an office in Zurich, after San Francisco and London. The Robotics and AI Institute, founded by Marc Raibert of Boston Dynamics, located its European research and development centre there in 2025. In the same year Neura Robotics moved development of the 4NE1 humanoid robot to Switzerland. In May 2025 the European Space Agency opened the ESDI centre at the Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare in Villigen.

Alexandre Meldem of the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland foundation, created in 2024 on the initiative of UBS and Swisscom, describes the situation this way. «Sono pronto a scommettere che oggi la densità di grandi aziende tecnologiche [in Svizzera] è più elevata che da qualsiasi altra parte del mondo» (I am ready to bet that the density of large technology companies in Switzerland today is higher than anywhere else in the world), he says. He adds that «la neutralità politica svizzera non è solo una tradizione diplomatica: per le aziende che operano nel campo delle tecnologie d'avanguardia, può anche rappresentare un vantaggio strategico» (Swiss political neutrality is not only a diplomatic tradition: for companies working in advanced technologies it can also be a strategic advantage).

Where the advantage turns

That same neutrality, however, produces constraints. The federal war materiel law, dating from the mid-1990s, controls exports of dual-use products. In 2025 strict controls were introduced on quantum computing, semiconductor production, artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing. In February 2026 the Confederation eased export rules towards 25 allied countries.

The problem is that the dividing line is thinning. «I confini tra ambito civile e militare sono sempre più sfumati» (The boundaries between the civilian and military spheres are increasingly blurred), observes Leo Eigner of the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich.

Some companies have drawn their conclusions. Destinus, active in aerospace and hypersonic aircraft, left Switzerland for the Netherlands at the end of 2024. Founder Mihail Kokorić explained the move by the limits imposed by a Swiss base: «Mantenendo la sede della holding in Svizzera, non avremmo potuto trarne vantaggio» (By keeping the holding company's seat in Switzerland, we could not have taken advantage of it). Auterion moved to Munich and to Arlington, Virginia.

There is also a physical constraint. Data centres already absorb between 6 and 8 per cent of Swiss electricity and could reach 15 per cent by 2030.

The competitive advantage is therefore not secured. According to Stanford's AI Index, the inflow of talent to the United States fell by 80 per cent over the past year, which opens a window for whoever can hold on to researchers and companies.