New Parliamentary AI Group Forms in Bern Under Dominik Blunschy
Swiss lawmakers who want to understand artificial intelligence before they regulate it now have a formal home. A new Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence has been set up in Bern, bringing together almost 30 members of the National Council and the Council of States across party and language lines, Computerworld Switzerland reported on October 5. It is chaired by National Councillor Dominik Blunschy of the Centre party, from the canton of Schwyz.
The group’s stated aim is to combine good conditions for innovation with responsible use of AI. Its method is practical: experts from business, research and civil society will present concrete applications and discuss opportunities and risks with members. “As a parliament, we have to understand how this technology works before we decide on its rules,” Blunschy said (translated from German). The first event is planned for the 2026 winter session, followed by around two session events a year and visits to companies and institutions.
Salesforce and swissAI, the Swiss association of AI users, are currently the group’s sponsoring organisations and will contribute expertise, topics and case studies. According to the announcement, political direction stays with the parliamentarians and the sponsors have no voting rights. The secretariat is run by the agency Farner Consulting, and other companies and associations can join as sponsors.
What it means in practice
The timing is not accidental. The federal government is preparing a consultation draft on AI regulation to implement the Council of Europe’s AI convention, covering transparency, data protection, non-discrimination and oversight, as AI4Switzerland reported when Bern set an early-2027 timetable for the draft. Switzerland will also host the Geneva AI Summit on 21 and 22 June 2027. “With the summit in Geneva, the world will be looking at Switzerland in 2027,” Blunschy said.
The group is separate from the cross-party motion pressing the Federal Council for more ambition at the Geneva summit, but both point to a parliament that wants a bigger say on AI policy. A standing forum could give members a shared baseline of technical knowledge before the consultation draft reaches them.
One caveat is worth noting. With a US software vendor among the sponsors and a public affairs agency running the secretariat, the group will need to show that the applications it showcases reflect a broad range of Swiss users, not only its backers. What to watch: which experts and use cases feature at the winter-session launch, whether more sponsors join, and how the group positions itself once the consultation draft is published.