# Switzerland

- **Record type**: Jurisdiction profile
- **Short name**: Switzerland
- **ISO code**: CH
- **Type**: country
- **Region**: Europe / Western Europe

## In brief

Switzerland has 2 recorded AI policy instruments, none of them binding. No horizontal AI law; Federal Council approach (2025): Council of Europe convention plus sector rules; federal AI guidelines (2020). Regulators include Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). Next dated milestone: Consultation draft on ratification and legal amendments on 31 December 2026.

## Overview

Switzerland is outside the EU and does not apply the AI Act. In February 2025 the Federal Council decided its approach: ratify the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, make targeted sector-specific legal changes (transparency, data protection, non-discrimination) rather than a horizontal AI law, and rely on non-binding measures such as industry self-regulation; a consultation draft was due by the end of 2026. The 2020 guidelines on AI for the Federal Administration and the Competence Network for AI (CNAI) guide public-sector use.

## Regulatory status

No horizontal AI law; Federal Council approach (2025): Council of Europe convention plus sector rules; federal AI guidelines (2020).

## What is binding and what is guidance

Binding: none recorded. Strategy or guidance: Federal Council AI regulatory approach (2025); Guidelines on AI for the Federal Administration (2020).

## Current priorities

Drafting the ratification and sector-law package, transparency and data-protection rules for AI, CNAI coordination.

## Regulators

- Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) — Lead office for the AI regulatory approach — https://www.bakom.admin.ch/
- Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) — Data-protection authority; guidance on AI and the FADP — https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en

## How to use this profile

- Open the official source on each instrument before relying on any date or obligation.
- Treat strategies and guidance as signals of coming regulation, not as binding requirements.
- Check data-protection, consumer, employment and sector law that applies to AI systems regardless of AI-specific instruments.

## Official sources

- Federal Council wants to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on AI (press release, 12 February 2025) — Swiss Federal Council — https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-104110.html

## Instruments recorded for this jurisdiction (2)

- **Federal Council decision on the regulation of artificial intelligence: ratification of the Council of Europe Convention and sector-specific adjustments** — Policy, Adopted, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/switzerland-federal-council-ai-regulatory-approach-2025
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/switzerland-federal-council-ai-regulatory-approach-2025.md
- **Leitlinien "Künstliche Intelligenz" für den Bund** — Guidance, Guidance, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/switzerland-guidelines-on-ai-for-the-federal-administration-2020
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/switzerland-guidelines-on-ai-for-the-federal-administration-2020.md

## Provenance

- **Record page**: https://aipolicytracker.org/jurisdictions/switzerland
- **Official source**: https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-104110.html
- **Source document**: Federal Council wants to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on AI (press release, 12 February 2025)
- **Published by**: Swiss Federal Council
- **Review status**: verified
- **Confidence**: medium
- **Facts last confirmed**: 2026-09-26
- **Confirmed by**: Bhaskar Bhatt (see https://aipolicytracker.org/reviewers)
- **Retrieved**: 2026-10-27
- **Licence**: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

> This record is a structured summary with a link to the official text. It is not legal advice. Open the official source before relying on any date or duty. How current each record type must be is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/verification; what a record must carry at all is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/coverage.