Switzerland has the world's highest concentration of highly qualified artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, according to the NZZ, as reported by ICTjournal on 26 October 2026. It owes this in particular to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). But many of these talents then go on to join American tech giants, in Switzerland or in the United States.
What the NZZ says about AI specialists in Switzerland
The finding comes from an article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), available to subscribers only. ICTjournal summarised its main points on 26 October 2026. The Zurich daily attributes this concentration mainly to the two Swiss federal institutes of technology.
These skills could serve the development of domestic AI technologies and the country's digital sovereignty. That is a prospect, not a finding. The NZZ mainly describes another trend: after their studies, many graduates join groups such as Google or IBM, either at their Swiss subsidiaries or directly in the United States.
The daily speaks of a brain drain. In its view, the skills of many talents trained in Switzerland benefit foreign groups.
How many graduates leave for the tech giants?
Nobody has put a precise figure on it. There are no precise figures on the number of graduates who join the large technology groups, writes the NZZ. The finding therefore rests on observations from the field.
The main one comes from Andreas Krause, director of the ETH AI Center, ETH Zurich's AI centre. "I see that a large share of ETH AI Center graduates join big technology groups," he tells the NZZ.
He considers this trend problematic for Switzerland's digital sovereignty. "When our best minds work for American groups, control of the technology ultimately lies in the United States," he stresses.
How Google and the others attract talent in Zurich
The American giants recruit as close as possible to the universities. Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, OpenAI and Anthropic are present in Zurich. They fund research at ETH Zurich, offer internships to young researchers and mentoring programmes to students.
The NZZ cites several examples linked to Google:
- a donation of 500,000 francs to the ETH AI Center in 2026;
- scholarships and mentoring provided by Google researchers for three ETH Zurich doctoral students in 2025;
- the support, according to the daily, of the student association GDG on Campus Zurich for recruiting at hackathons and meetups. It is part of the global network of Google Developer Groups (GDG).
The region itself presents itself as a magnet. On its website, Greater Zurich Area describes a "hub of attraction for AI innovation". It highlights technology-neutral regulation and a local network that connects universities with industry.
Why Swiss AI start-ups struggle to keep up
Salary is the first obstacle. The large groups pay so well that Swiss companies specialising in AI struggle to compete. Pascal Kaufmann, founding member of the ETH Circle, sums it up to the NZZ: "It is extremely difficult to convince a talent to join us when an American group, based thirty metres away, offers them a salary several times higher."
Size matters too. Switzerland has no AI company of comparable size, even though many ETH Zurich graduates found start-ups. Raphael Tobler, president of the Swiss Startup Association, points out that these companies need substantial investment. In his view, the lack of capital and of appetite for risk pushes some of them towards Silicon Valley.
The same diagnosis came up in our report on Swiss robotics and artificial intelligence. Jan Kerschgens, co-director of the Swiss Center for Digital Sovereignty, stated there: "It is neither ideas nor talent that are lacking, it is domestic growth capital."
Global venture capital, for its part, is concentrating on AI. According to CB Insights, as reported by Fintechnews Switzerland on 21 October 2026, AI start-ups raised 495.5 billion dollars over nine months. That makes 71% of the global total, as our article on venture capital turning towards AI pointed out.
What this changes for a Swiss company that is hiring
For a start-up or an SME, the talent pool is on the doorstep, but so is the competition. The topic ties in with that of AI employment in Switzerland, which 2clics follows closely. Three young companies we recently covered show how some manage to recruit nonetheless.
| Company | Origin | Announced funding | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enact Intelligence | Founded in March 2026 in Zurich | 30 million dollars in pre-seed, October 2026 | Twelve people, to grow fivefold by the end of 2027 |
| Flexion | Founded in Zurich at the end of 2024, notably by former Nvidia researchers | 50 million dollars in 2025 | Not specified |
| Turiq | Run by two ETH Zurich computer science students | No funding round announced | Growing development team |
Enact openly embraces its choice of Zurich over the San Francisco area. Its founder, Manuel Yves Galliker, believes that Silicon Valley lacks robotics and hardware engineers: "a lot of money chasing few people". The start-up announced this funding round on 22 October 2026, as detailed in our article on Enact Intelligence's funding round.
Turiq illustrates the other channel, that of programming competitions. In September 2025, at the Swiss AI Weeks in St. Gallen, four ETH Zurich students built a prototype in 36 hours. It became the platform of Klaus Wellershoff's fintech Turiq. According to the NZZ, Google also reportedly recruits at hackathons.
These examples do not measure the brain drain. They show two levers cited by the companies themselves: substantial funding and direct access to students.
How are the universities responding?
ETH Zurich and EPFL launched the Swiss AI Initiative to foster the development of AI technologies in Switzerland. These difficulties are what led to its creation. According to the NZZ, the initiative supports in particular Apertus, an open AI model.
What we don't know yet
- Which study and which indicator underpin the ranking that puts Switzerland at the top.
- How many ETH Zurich and EPFL graduates join the American giants, and how many leave for the United States rather than their Swiss subsidiaries.
- The actual salary gap: "several times higher" remains the estimate of one industry player.
- How many Swiss AI start-ups have moved to Silicon Valley.
- Whether the Swiss AI Initiative and the Apertus model keep more talent in Switzerland.
