Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Switzerland’s federal institutes of technology—ETH Zurich and EPFL in Lausanne—have announced plans to launch a large language model (LLM) of their own. Unlike most of its peers, this one will be public, open-source and led by ethics and science. It is expected to be released later in 2025. Developed under the Swiss AI Initiative, launched in December 2023, the project pools resources from over 10 Swiss institutions. The new Swiss National AI Institute is coordinating the project, which draws on more than 70 AI researchers from ETHZ and EPFL. Training of the system will be done on the new Alps…

Swiss retail endured a bruising first half of 2025. Sales between January and June fell by an estimated 1.9% compared with the same period last year, according to the Swiss Retail Federation, which analysed debit and credit card transactions. Physical stores bore the brunt, with revenues dropping 2.2%, while online sales eked out a modest 0.8% gain, reported SRF. The sharpest declines hit non-essential categories. Spending on leisure goods, hobbies, toys, clothing, footwear, and Switzerland’s famed watches and jewellery all tumbled. Only food sales held steady, as households curbed discretionary purchases. Cross-border shopping tourism is partly to blame. In the…

Proton, the Geneva-based encrypted email provider founded 11 years ago by three scientist who met at CERN, will freeze its investments in Switzerland, its chief executive Andy Yen told Le Temps on Wednesday. The company, best known for its privacy-first services, accuses Switzerland of edging towards becoming a surveillance state. The dispute centres on two draft ordinances updating rules on communications monitoring. The measures would compel encrypted messaging providers, including WhatsApp and Proton, to identify users and store their data, handing it over to authorities upon request. Such obligations clash with the core selling point of firms such as Proton…

On 10 July 2025, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport (FOT) announced government plans to subsidise new international rail services, with priority given to a planned Basel–Copenhagen–Malmö night train. The FOT will provide CHF 10 million a year between 2025 and 2030 to promote cross-border passenger rail, especially night services, following a mandate from the federal government and parliament. Swiss Rail applied for funding this spring. The FOT has approved 1.2 CHF million this year for preparatory work on the EuroNight connection, which is expected to run three times per week in each direction from April 2026. Over its first five…

Ticino is testing an unusual weapon against an unwelcome visitor: the Asian tiger mosquito. The insect, which can spread dengue and chikungunya fever, is abundant in the canton. Local researchers are now deploying sterilised males to curb the population, reported SRF. The method, first trialled in Morcote in 2024, proved highly effective, cutting mosquito numbers by over 90% in the isolated lakeside community. This year the project has expanded to more open areas, including a 12-hectare zone around a hotel complex and school in Losone in the canton of Ticino. Field teams from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts…

The Arolla campsite, perched 1,950 metres above sea level in the Val d’Hérens in the canton of Valais, is to close permanently, the authorities announced on 13 July 2025. The site, which draws around 12,000 overnight stays each year, has been deemed unsafe after repeated mudslides and flooding. The decision, taken by the Valais government, overrides objections from the campsite’s operators, who had hoped to keep the site open during the summer while zoning maps were revised. The municipality of Evolène, which oversees the region where the campsite is located is now seeking an alternative location. The campsite, a former…

Oil heating is making an unexpected comeback in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft, reported SRF. Under a revised cantonal energy law that came into force in October 2024, new buildings must be equipped with low-emission heating systems. From January 2026, the same rule will apply to replacements in existing buildings, provided the system is more than 15 years old. Cantonal legislators are making oil heating, one of the most polluting heating systems, illegal. But ahead of the legal deadline, home owners are rushing to install such systems. Installers in the region report a flood of last-minute orders. We receive around…

Switzerland’s media industry is set to receive a financial boost after a last-ditch effort to block federal subsidies failed to gather enough support, reported RTS. A group opposed to the aid package, which was approved by Parliament in March 2025, admitted it could not meet the required 50,000 signatures by the 10 July deadline. A spokesperson for the initiative told RTS that they left their run too late. By the time we realised the law had passed, it was already late—but we felt it was too important not to try, he said. Support from political parties was thin. With Swiss…

This week, SRF reported that Swiss Rail is using fire trucks to water rails to reduce the risk of buckling and derailment. Sun and summer temperatures can push the heat of the rails as high as 60 degrees. Most lengths of track are welded together. This means there are no expansion gaps to release pressure as the heat expands the metal. Rails are clipped tightly to heavy sleepers and set in compacted ballast, typically gravel. This prevents expansion from shifting the track laterally, forcing the rail to absorb thermal stress instead. A track is considered deformed if it shifts more…

In 2025, the future of banking isn’t being built in glass towers or with marble floors. It’s unfolding on smartphones, where billions of users demand instant, intuitive, and intelligent financial experiences. At the forefront of this transformation is Black Banx, a global fintech force that now serves 78 million customers in 180 countries, committed to putting user experience at the core of its strategy. Black Banx isn’t just mobile-friendly—it’s mobile-first. It doesn’t just serve customers—it builds around them. This approach is not only driving record-breaking growth but also redefining what modern banking means in a digitally-native world. Designing for the…