Switzerland Releases Open-Source AI Model Built For Privacy
- Reference: 0178997570
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/03/2125252/switzerland-releases-open-source-ai-model-built-for-privacy
- Source link:
> Unlike popular proprietary models, where users can only interact via APIs or hosted interfaces, Apertus provides open access to its model weights, training datasets, documentation, and even intermediate checkpoints. The source code and all training materials are released under a permissive open-source license that allows commercial use. Since the full training process is documented and reproducible, researchers and watchdogs can audit the data sources, verify compliance with data protection laws, and inspect how the model was trained. Apertus' development explicitly adhered to Swiss data protection and copyright laws, and incorporated retroactive opt-out mechanisms to respect data source preferences.
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> From a privacy perspective, Apertus represents a compelling shift in the AI landscape. The model only uses publicly available data, filtered to exclude personal information and to honor opt-out signals from content sources. This not only aligns with emerging regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act, but also provides a tangible example of how AI can be both powerful and privacy-respecting. [3]According to ETH Zurich's Imanol Schlag , technical lead of the project at ETH Zurich, Apertus is "built for the public good" and is a demonstration of how AI can be deployed as a public digital infrastructure, much like utilities or transportation.
The model is available via Swisscom's [4]Sovereign Swiss AI Platform . It's also available through [5]Hugging Face and the [6]Public AI Inference Utility .
[1] https://www.swiss-ai.org/apertus
[2] https://cyberinsider.com/switzerland-launches-apertus-a-public-open-source-ai-model-built-for-privacy/
[3] https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/09/press-release-apertus-a-fully-open-transparent-multilingual-language-model.html
[4] https://www.swiss-ai.org/apertus
[5] https://huggingface.co/collections/swiss-ai/apertus-llm-68b699e65415c231ace3b059
[6] https://publicai.co/
Seems dangerous (Score:2)
Not looking forward to where this may lead.
Respect for the Swiss (Score:2)
They respect privacy... and their tax system consists of sending out a post card every year telling you how much you owe, or a refund check. It would be a lie if you told me that the USA could not do the same.
Re: (Score:1)
The second sentence deserves an offtopic mod, but I totally agree with you.
Re: (Score:2)
True about the second part being off-topic. It is just that.. they seem to be an example of a government that I would want to live with. Privacy.. Simplicity.
Re: (Score:1)
I'd rather determine it myself than take the govt's word on blind faith.
Re: (Score:2)
Please investigate, I would like to hear more info!
This is different from Lumo by Proton (Score:2)
I did a double-take; the Proton Foundation (the Switzerland-based privacy non-profit best known for its mail service) just [1]announced [proton.me] its open-source [2]Lumo chatbot [proton.me], dubbed as "responsible AI". (That blog post is dated 2025-07-23, but I got their email announcement on Friday.)
Proton's blog announcement also casts doubt on the Swiss government plans, which take advantage of Switzerland's non-membership in the EU:
> Lumo represents one of many investments Proton will be making before the end of the decade to ensu
[1] https://proton.me/blog/lumo-ai
[2] https://lumo.proton.me/
Anecdote (Score:4, Interesting)
Because I was looking for this information I asked it "what is the length of a honda 41411-VH8-640 flexible drive shaft?".
It thought I was looking for car parts.
I asked Grok and it knew I had one of two string trimmer base models but didn't have the answer either.
Grok recommended 25 websites to look at but I already stupidly spent an hour looking at websites instead of spending twenty minutes taking apart the brush cutter and measuring it with a tape and calipers.
Humanity is safe for now.
Re: (Score:2)
> Humanity is safe for now.
Are you sure? Here is just one example of what you can use AI for, taken from Google TV adverts:
"I spilled sugar in my gochujang pasta sauce." One would expect a normal person to say 'scoop it out with a spoon, idiot', but the AI answer is to turn it into cookies. Honestly, if we don't nip this in the bud we'll be breeding a generation of people who simply don't think for themselves.