SwitzerlandEU AI Act · Article 2Version 1.023 October 2026
The EU AI Act for Swiss companies
The EU AI Act applies to a company established in Switzerland when it places an AI system or a general-purpose AI model on the EU market, puts one into service there, or when the output of its AI system is used in the Union, irrespective of where it is established. The Swiss Federal Office of Communications reads it the same way: the Act does not apply to Switzerland, but it covers Swiss actors on the EU internal market. This page sets out the situations, the role each gives you and the duties with their dates after Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, read in primary sources on 23 October 2026.
On this page
2 legal orders, one estate of AI systems.
In this page, "we" means Hikari Blue, which engineers and operates the AI operating layer for companies in Switzerland, the United States and France. Article references are to Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 in its consolidated version of 27 July 2026; the Official Journal governs.
Switzerland has, to date, no AI-specific legislation. The EU Act and Swiss law apply side by side: one does not replace the other, and one system can answer to both. This is not legal advice; the role a company holds for a given system is a question for counsel.
The market and the output decide, not the seat of the company.
The situations below are illustrative and generic, not client cases. Each names the role the Act gives the Swiss company and the provision that gives it. The role, provider, deployer or importer, is qualified case by case, on the facts of each system and each flow.
Mapping prepared by Hikari Blue, not reviewed by the European Commission or any authority. It is neither legal advice nor a guarantee of compliance.
| Situation | Role under the Act | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| You sell or license an AI system to customers in the EU under your name. | Provider placing on the Union market | Art. 2(1)(a) |
| Your system runs in Switzerland, and its output is used in the EU, for example by an EU subsidiary or an EU customer. | Provider or deployer in a third country | Art. 2(1)(c) |
| Your subsidiary or branch in the EU uses an AI system. | The EU entity is a deployer established in the Union | Art. 2(1)(b) |
| You provide a high-risk system to the EU market from Switzerland. | Provider who must appoint an authorised representative established in the Union | Art. 22(1) |
| You put your name on, substantially modify, or repurpose into high-risk an AI system bought from someone else. | You become its provider | Art. 25(1) |
| You place a general-purpose AI model on the EU market. | General-purpose AI model provider, with an authorised representative before placing | Art. 2(1)(a), Art. 54(1) |
| Your AI is used only in Switzerland, with no output used in the EU. | In our reading, outside the Act; Swiss law applies | Our reading of Art. 2(1), not a written rule |
The Federal Office of Communications adds that the use in the EU of outputs generated by an AI system of a provider or deployer in a third country, for example in Switzerland, is also relevant, and that Swiss actors affected by the Act must fulfil its obligations.
Some duties already apply. The high-risk ones moved to December 2027.
Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI, entered into force on 27 July 2026 and replaced the application dates of the high-risk chapter. The table gives the dates in force on 23 October 2026.
| Duty | Who | Applies from |
|---|---|---|
| Prohibited practices, Article 5 | Everyone in scope | 2 February 2025; prohibitions added in 2026 from 2 December 2026 |
| AI literacy, Article 4 | Providers and deployers | 2 February 2025; current wording since 27 July 2026 |
| General-purpose AI models, Chapter V and Article 54 | Model providers | 2 August 2025 |
| Penalties, Article 99 | Set and applied by Member States | 2 August 2025 |
| Transparency, Article 50 | Providers and deployers of the systems concerned | 2 August 2026; 2 December 2026 for Article 50(2) on systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026 |
| High-risk requirements, authorised representative, deployer duties | Providers, importers, deployers | 2 December 2027 (Annex III) · 2 August 2028 (Annex I) |
Fines reach EUR 35 million or 7% of worldwide annual turnover for prohibited practices, EUR 15 million or 3% for most other obligations, and EUR 7.5 million or 1% for incorrect information, whichever is higher; for SMEs, including start-ups, whichever is lower.
A Swiss provider of a high-risk system needs a mandate in the EU.
The mandate
Before making a high-risk system available in the Union, a provider established in a third country appoints, by written mandate, an authorised representative established in the Union (Article 22(1)).
What the representative holds
The documentation for 10 years after placing on the market, and access to the automatically generated logs on request of a competent authority (Article 22(3)).
Who checks it
Before placing the system on the market, an EU importer verifies that the provider has appointed its authorised representative (Article 23(1)(d)).
For general-purpose models
A third-country provider of a general-purpose AI model appoints its representative before placing the model on the Union market (Article 54(1)). Article 54(6) exempts models released under a free and open-source licence whose parameters, including the weights, and information on architecture and usage are public, unless the model presents systemic risks.
The mutual recognition agreement does not cover the AI requirements.
The Federal Office of Communications counts 12 of the 20 product sectors of the Switzerland-EU mutual recognition agreement as affected by the Act, and notes that its requirements are not currently covered by the agreement. A Swiss manufacturer of a product with embedded AI then needs an additional EU conformity assessment and an authorised representative in the EU, which the Office expects to add work and costs.
These products fall under Annex I. Since Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, their high-risk obligations apply from 2 August 2028, not from August 2027 as the Office's overview of 12 February 2025 states.
Switzerland chose its own path: a convention, sector rules, data protection.
| Text or decision | What it says | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Council decision, 12 February 2025 | Ratify the Council of Europe AI Convention; make legislative changes as sector-specific as possible; cross-sector rules only for key areas such as data protection; non-binding measures alongside. | Consultation bill to be drafted by the FDJP by the end of 2026; to our knowledge, as of 25 October 2026, none has been opened |
| Council of Europe Convention, CETS No. 225 | Framework convention on AI and human rights, democracy and the rule of law; in Switzerland, it is to apply primarily to state actors. | Signed on 27 March 2025; not ratified and not in force on the Council of Europe chart of 23 October 2026 |
| Federal Act on Data Protection, SR 235.1 | Article 21 on automated individual decisions, whose duties to inform and allow review lapse under paragraph 3 when the decision is directly connected with a contract and the request is granted, or when the person has expressly consented; Article 22 on impact assessments; the FDPIC holds that the act applies directly to AI-supported processing. | In force since 1 September 2023 |
| FINMA Guidance 08/2024 | Supervisory expectations on AI governance and risk management for supervised financial institutions. | Published on 18 December 2024 |
Inventory the EU link, qualify the role, then build the evidence once.
Mapping prepared by Hikari Blue, not reviewed by the European Commission or any authority. It is neither legal advice nor a guarantee of compliance.
- 01
Inventory every AI use with an EU link
For each system: is it sold in the EU, is its output used there, does an EU entity run it? A use-case register answers the question once for the whole estate.
Evidence: the register, each entry with its market, its output destination and its role.
- 02
Qualify the role and the risk class
Provider, deployer, importer or none, and high-risk or not, qualified case by case on the facts, system by system, and signed by the AI risk owner with counsel.
Evidence: the signed classification, and the authorised representative's mandate where Article 22 applies.
- 03
Build the evidence once, for both orders
Literacy records, the record of every action, human verification and the stop path answer Articles 4, 12, 14 and 26 of the Act, and the transparency and review duties of the Swiss data protection act.
Evidence: literacy records, record exports, drill record of the stop path.
- AI literacy and Article 4 of the EU AI Act What Article 4 requires, since when, and the records that show it is met.
- AI audit trail: definition and EU AI Act mapping The 9 fields of the record, mapped to Articles 12, 19 and 26.
- Enterprise AI Governance Framework v1.0 15 controls with owners, cadences, evidence and EU AI Act hooks. CC BY 4.0.
What Swiss companies ask about the EU AI Act.
Does the EU AI Act apply to Swiss companies?
Yes, when they place AI systems or general-purpose AI models on the EU market, put them into service there, or when the output of their AI systems is used in the Union (Article 2(1)). The Act does not apply to Switzerland as a state. In our reading, a use with no EU link stays under Swiss law alone; the role, provider or deployer, is qualified case by case, on the facts.
Our AI runs in Switzerland. Can the Act still apply?
Yes, if its output is used in the Union. Article 2(1)(c) covers providers and deployers established in a third country where the output of the AI system is used in the Union. The location of the servers does not decide; the use of the output does.
Do we need an authorised representative in the EU?
Yes, if you are a Swiss provider of a high-risk AI system made available in the Union (Article 22, from 2 December 2027 for Annex III systems), or of a general-purpose AI model placed on the Union market (Article 54, since 2 August 2025), unless the open-source exemption of Article 54(6) applies.
Does the Switzerland-EU mutual recognition agreement cover AI?
Not currently. The Federal Office of Communications states that the AI requirements are not covered by the agreement, so an additional EU conformity assessment and an EU authorised representative would be needed for the products concerned.
When do the obligations apply?
Prohibitions and AI literacy since 2 February 2025, general-purpose model rules since 2 August 2025, transparency since 2 August 2026, and the high-risk requirements from 2 December 2027 for Annex III systems and 2 August 2028 for Annex I systems, under Regulation (EU) 2026/1744.
Will Switzerland adopt the EU AI Act?
No such decision exists. On 12 February 2025, the Federal Council chose to ratify the Council of Europe AI Convention and to amend Swiss law sector by sector where needed, with a consultation bill due by the end of 2026.
Reference documents and primary sources.
Every article, date and status on this page comes from the sources below, read on 23 October 2026.
Reference documents
- FINMA Guidance 08/2024 on AI, expectation by expectation What FINMA expects from supervised institutions that use AI, and the evidence for each.
- AI literacy and Article 4 of the EU AI Act What Article 4 requires, since when, and the records that show it is met.
- AI audit trail: definition and EU AI Act mapping The 9 fields of the record, mapped to Articles 12, 19 and 26.
- Enterprise AI Governance Framework v1.0 15 controls with owners, cadences, evidence and EU AI Act hooks. CC BY 4.0.
- AI governance Why governance is architecture: policy engine, human oversight loop, audit trail.
Primary sources, consulted on 23 October 2026
- EUR-Lex · Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act, consolidated text (opens in a new tab) Version of 27 July 2026. Articles 2, 4, 22, 23, 25, 50, 54 including paragraph 6, 99 and 113.
- Official Journal · Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, Digital Omnibus on AI (opens in a new tab) Regulation of 8 July 2026, published on 24 July 2026, in force on 27 July 2026.
- OFCOM · Overview of artificial intelligence regulation, report to the Federal Council (opens in a new tab) 12 February 2025: sections 4.2 on Swiss actors and 7.2 on the mutual recognition agreement. PDF.
- OFCOM · Intelligence artificielle (opens in a new tab) French hub with the state of play on AI regulation.
- Conseil fédéral · Réglementation de l’IA : le Conseil fédéral veut ratifier la Convention du Conseil de l’Europe (opens in a new tab) Press release of 12 February 2025.
- Council of Europe · Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 225 (opens in a new tab) Status as of 23 October 2026.
- Fedlex · Loi fédérale sur la protection des données (LPD), RS 235.1 (opens in a new tab) Article 21, including the exceptions of paragraph 3, and Article 22; in force since 1 September 2023.
- European Commission · AI Act Service Desk, implementation timeline (opens in a new tab) Application and enforcement milestones.
How to cite this document.
This URL is permanent and always serves the current version. Each change of substance increments the version and is listed in the changelog below, so a citation stays traceable to the text it quoted.
Preferred citation
Hikari Blue, "The EU AI Act for Swiss companies v1.0", 23 October 2026, https://hikariblue.com/switzerland/eu-ai-act-swiss-companies
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Changelog
v1.0 · 23 October 2026. First public version.
Editorial correction · 25 October 2026: license extended to this page (CC BY 4.0).
License. Published under CC BY 4.0: free to cite, quote and reuse with attribution to Hikari Blue and a link to this page. The license covers Hikari Blue’s text, tables and diagrams on this page; it does not cover third-party data, quotations or legal texts, which keep their own terms, nor the Hikari Blue name and logo, trademarks of UNITED4 LLC.
Map your AI uses with an EU link.
30 minutes with a named partner. We go through the AI systems your company runs or sells and show which ones the EU Act reaches, in which role and from which date, and which evidence serves Swiss law at the same time. You leave with that map, whether or not we work together.
- Your AI systems with an EU link
- The role and the date for each
- The evidence that serves both legal orders