Switzerland tops the 2026 Stanford AI Index for AI talent density

Switzerland has topped the global ranking for AI talent density in the 2026 AI Index Report, published by Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). The country recorded 110.5 AI researchers and developers per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, placing it just ahead of Singapore (109.5) and well above Germany (58.1) and the United Kingdom (49.6). Switzerland also ranks third globally for doctoral-level AI talent, with 43.6% of its top AI researchers holding a PhD.

The report, now in its ninth annual edition, tracks AI’s technical progress, economic influence, and societal impact across countries and industries. It finds that AI capability is accelerating rapidly: industry produced more than 90% of notable frontier models in 2025, and several now meet or exceed human performance on PhD-level science questions and competition mathematics. Generative AI adoption has reached 53% of the global population within three years, though uptake varies sharply by country.

Switzerland’s AI adoption rate stood at 34.8% by end of 2025, above the European average of approximately 27% and ahead of the United States (28.3%). AI job postings as a share of all postings reached 1.59%, above Germany (1.13%), France (0.99%), and Austria (0.84%), suggesting stronger hiring momentum for AI skills in the Swiss labor market than in neighboring economies.

On investment, Switzerland has attracted USD 4.73 billion in cumulative private AI funding since 2013, ranking 14th globally, behind European leaders the United Kingdom (USD 34.1 billion) and Germany (USD 17.2 billion), and below similarly sized economies such as Israel (USD 18.54 billion) and Sweden (USD 8.24 billion). In 2025, 34 newly funded AI companies were counted in Switzerland, compared with 64 in Israel and 49 in Singapore.

Western Switzerland: a regional hub for responsible AI

Switzerland’s AI leadership is reflected across Western Switzerland, where a dense network of universities, research institutes, and industry partners is advancing artificial intelligence across multiple sectors. The region has emerged as a European hub where open research, ethical standards, and technological excellence converge.

At the core of this ecosystem is the Swiss AI Initiative, co-led by EPFL and ETH Zurich, which involves more than 800 researchers and provides access to 20 million GPU hours annually. Its flagship outcome is Apertus, Switzerland’s first open multilingual large language model, trained on the Alps supercomputer in Lugano and supporting more than 1,000 languages including Swiss German and Romansh. EPFL’s AI Center in Lausanne coordinates research across medicine, robotics, digital twins, and edge AI, while CSEM in Neuchâtel integrates AI into microtechnologies and embedded systems. In Bern, the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (CAIM) develops AI tools for diagnosis and clinical decision-making. In Fribourg, the iCoSys institute focuses on distributed computing and Industry 4.0 applications.

Geneva plays a distinctive dual role, as both an innovation hub and a global center for AI governance. The AI Health Hub, opening in 2026 at Campus Biotech, will focus on AI applications for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Geneva is also home to the ITU‘s AI for Good Global Summit and the UNICC‘s AI Hub, reinforcing the city’s role in shaping international AI standards.

For a comprehensive overview of the region’s AI ecosystem, visit our dedicated article: Western Switzerland at the heart of artificial intelligence.