AI chatbots make intensive use of Swiss media - publishers' association calls for regulation
The fög’s 2025 Media Quality Yearbook shows that AI bots such as ChatGPT rely heavily on journalistic sources, particularly when covering Swiss topics. The publishers’ association SCHWEIZER MEDIEN is calling for mandatory AI regulation and compensation for media companies.
In its latest yearbook, *Quality of the Media 2025*, the Research Center for Public Sphere and Society (fög) presents some explosive findings: AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Perplexity make extensive use of journalistic content as sources—without compensating the media companies.
Journalism as the Primary Source for AI Systems
When it comes to questions about current events and news, journalism is the most important type of source: ChatGPT relies on journalistic sources 73.2 percent of the time, and Perplexity 66.5 percent of the time. Local media play a central role, particularly when it comes to Swiss topics—they account for 36.7 percent of ChatGPT’s sources and as much as 47.1 percent of Perplexity’s sources.
Call for Mandatory Regulation
«The fög results are explosive and underscore our call for binding AI regulation,» emphasizes Andrea Masüger, president of the Swiss Media Publishers Association (VSM). VSM Director Pia Guggenbühl adds: «AI providers are doing this without authorization and without payment, without compensating publishers for their work.» Particularly problematic: One in ten AI responses contains incorrect information.
Increasing News Deprivation as a Social Challenge
The yearbook also documents a worrying trend: The proportion of news-deprived individuals in the Swiss population has risen to 46.4 percent by 2025. VSM Vice President Ladina Heimgartner nevertheless sees reason for optimism: «The 46 percent who are news-deprived are offset by 54 percent of people who continue to use and value professional media—in other words, there are still a great many who deserve our full commitment as media professionals.»
