{{Short description|Swiss free and open-source large language model}} {{Infobox software | title = Apertus | developer = {{hlist|ETH Zurich|EPFL|CSCS}} | released = {{start date and age|2025|9|2}} | license = Apache 2.0 | website = {{URL|https://apertvs.ai/}} }}
'''Apertus''' is a public large language model, developed by the Swiss AI Initiative (a collaboration between EPFL, ETH Zurich, and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moon |first=Mariella |date=2025-09-02 |title=Switzerland launches its own open-source AI model |url=https://www.engadget.com/ai/switzerland-launches-its-own-open-source-ai-model-133051578.html |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref> It was released on September 2, 2025,<ref name="ethz">{{cite web |date=September 3, 2025 |title=Apertus: a fully open, transparent, multilingual language model |url=https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/09/press-release-apertus-a-fully-open-transparent-multilingual-language-model.html |access-date=December 2, 2025 |website=ETH Zurich}}</ref> under the free and open-source Apache 2.0 license.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Partington |first1=Miriam |title=Switzerland unveils national LLM in tech sovereignty push |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/switzerland-national-llm |website=Sifted |access-date=12 April 2026 |date=2 September 2025}}</ref>
Designed initially for business and research use cases around the world,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ibrahim |first=Sara |date=2025-10-06 |title=Fact and fiction about the Swiss AI model Apertus |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-ai/fact-and-fiction-about-the-swiss-ai-model-apertus/90110034 |access-date=2026-01-28 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en}}</ref> Apertus was trained on over 1800 languages, and comes in 8 billion or 70 billion parameter versions and is available on Hugging Face for download.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-10-21 |title=Apertus critics "misunderstand" Swiss AI model |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-ai/apertus-performs-ridiculously-it-was-misinterpreted/90199357 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251102065247/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-ai/apertus-performs-ridiculously-it-was-misinterpreted/90199357 |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="the verge">{{cite news |last=Welle |first=Elissa |date=September 3, 2025 |title=Switzerland releases an open-weight AI model |url=https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/770646/switzerland-ai-model-llm-open-apertus |access-date=December 2, 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref> The model was developed aiming to adhere to European copyright law, and is one of the first examples of AI as a public good in the vein of AI Sovereignty.<ref name="the verge"/><ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Olff |first=Sabine |date=November 28, 2025 |title=Apertus: The Swiss open-source AI language model |url=https://www.dw.com/en/apertus-the-swiss-open-source-ai-language-model/video-74833409 |access-date=December 2, 2025 |website=dw.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Khalili |first=Joel |title=The Race to Build the DeepSeek of Europe Is On |url=https://www.wired.com/story/europe-race-us-deepseek-sovereign-ai/ |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> It is also the first large model to comply with the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kirchner |first=Malte |date=September 2, 2025 |title=Apertus: Switzerland presents first open and multilingual AI model |url=https://www.heise.de/en/news/Apertus-Switzerland-presents-first-open-and-multilingual-AI-model-10629547.html |access-date=December 2, 2025 |website=Heise Online}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> At its launch, the model creators emphasized multilinguality, transparency, and auditability as priorities in contrast to commercial frontier model.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Matthew |date=2025-09-02 |title=Switzerland launches transparent ChatGPT alternative |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-ai/switzerland-launches-transparent-chatgpt-alternative/89929269 |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en}}</ref> While international reception was largely positive<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schneier |first1=Bruce |url=https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2026/03/openai-has-shown-it-cannot-be-trusted-canada-needs-nationalized-public-ai.html |title= OpenAI Has Shown It Cannot Be Trusted. Canada Needs Nationalized, Public AI|publisher=The Globe and Mail |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>, the first iteration was significantly behind the capabilities of frontier models<ref name=":1" /> and needs adaptation for many use cases with chatbots being a secondary but not a primary use case.<ref name=":2" />
As of late 2025, it was considered the largest and most capable fully open model.<ref name=":1" /> The capability of future models will depend in part on how much more funding can be secured.<ref name=":2" />
== See also == {{Portal|Free and open-source software}} * List of large language models * Open-source artificial intelligence
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://apertvs.ai/}} * [https://huggingface.co/collections/swiss-ai/apertus-llm Apertus LLM] on Hugging Face
Category:École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Category:ETH Zurich Category:Large language models Category:Open-source artificial intelligence