Swiss companies have taken on a pioneering role in new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), according to Catrin Hinkel, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland. “Switzerland holds a crucial position for the US company,” said Hinkel in an interview talking about the impact of the new European AI regulation.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Español
es
Las empresas suizas son pioneras en inteligencia artificial
Microsoft has been providing its AI assistant Copilot to Swiss customers, since November, with over 200 companies and start-ups using Microsoft AI solutions, said Hinkel in an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag published on Sunday.
More
More
‘Artificial intelligence is the defining technology of our time’
This content was published on
A wide-ranging interview with Catrin Hinkel, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland, on artificial intelligence, IT shortages and data protection.
The technology is employed for various purposes, such as generating meeting minutes. However, Hinkel could not specify when Copilot would be accessible for private customers.
It is still premature to estimate the impact of the European Union’s (EU) new AI regulation on Microsoft’s offering. “In principle, we welcome the EU’s regulation of AI,” said Hinkel.
Human responsibility
Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states reached an agreement on a corresponding law in early December. According to the EU Parliament, this marks the world’s first AI law.
More
More
Has Switzerland missed the train on AI regulation?
This content was published on
The European Union has drafted the world’s first law regulating artificial intelligence. Where does that leave non-member Switzerland?
While the European Parliament and member states still need to give their approval, which is seen as a formality, the project entails categorising AI systems into different risk groups. The idea is that the higher the potential risks of an application, the more stringent the requirements should be. There’s hope that these regulations will serve as a global model.
According to the country manager at Microsoft, humans are the ultimate decision-makers and, therefore, bear the responsibility. This is why the technology is named Copilot. “The human is the pilot and, therefore, responsible for the aircraft,” explained Hinkel.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Politics
In Switzerland, New Year brings ‘burqa ban’ and pension hikes
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
Swiss plan 1,600 extra trains for Eurovision, Women’s EURO 2025 and other events
This content was published on
Swiss Federal Railways is planning to operate 1,600 additional trains to transport passengers to special events in 2025, such as the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 and the Eurovision Song Contest.
Swiss study: higher prices for cheese with protected geographical indication
This content was published on
Indications of geographical origin play a central role in the cheese trade, a study by the Agroscope research centre shows.
Swiss campaigners launch another ‘responsible business initiative’
This content was published on
A coalition has launched a new "responsible business initiative", urging the government to ensure that Swiss-based multinationals and their subsidiaries abroad respect human rights and protect the environment.
Swiss court suspends Geneva plan to ban single-use plastics
This content was published on
A Geneva court has suspended a ban on the sale of single-use plastics in the city, which was due to be introduced on January 1. This follows an appeal by Swiss retailers to the Federal Court.
Swiss cable car firms and hotels report positive winter so far
This content was published on
The Swiss cable car association and Switzerland Tourism have reported higher visitor numbers at winter resorts over the Christmas and New Year period compared to 2023/24.
UBS expects Swiss National Bank to record CHF80bn profit in 2024
This content was published on
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is expected to make a net profit of CHF80 billion ($88.4 billion) in 2024, according to UBS.
This content was published on
Consumer prices fell last year in Switzerland, new figures show. Higher rents and electricity prices were partially offset by lower prices for gas and prescription drugs.
This content was published on
New data from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) shows that flu cases doubled in Switzerland between mid and late December.
Swiss bank Julius Bär sells its Brazilian operation
This content was published on
Swiss private bank Julius Bär has signed an agreement to sell its operation in Brazil for 615 million reais, or CHF91 million ($100.7 million).
Historian claims Swiss banks may hold further Second World War secrets
This content was published on
Bank archives could still hold secrets about Swiss actions during the Second World War and should be re-examined, especially those of UBS, says Marc Perrenoud, a historian who worked on the Bergier Commission.
This content was published on
Artificial intelligence researchers are calling for a pause on “giant AI experiments”, but it won’t happen, argues AI researcher Jürgen Schmidhuber.
This content was published on
We desperately need more attention, staff and funding to set up artificial intelligence (AI) governance systems, says Lê Nguyên Hoang.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.