🚜 Try Digging
The Swiss research behind Gravis deserves more attention than its unicorn label.
Before artificial intelligence delivers abundance, somebody has to dig the foundations for its data centre. Annoying. You can finance the chips and announce the campus, but the ground remains stubbornly uninterested. On 17 August, SoftBank committed $200M to Gravis Robotics, a Swiss company based in Zurich that teaches heavy machinery to work autonomously. A Series A. The cheque makes a fine headline. I am more interested in how Switzerland produced something worth writing it for.
Gravis grew out of ETH Zurich, Switzerland’s federal institute of technology, in 2022. Its founders met in robotics professor Marco Hutter’s lab. By November 2025, Holcim, the Swiss building materials group, was both an investor and a user of its technology, handling quarry materials and loading trucks. There is an industrial relationship you can actually explain: the customer has work to do, the researchers have machinery that might do it better, and the customer puts money behind the business. Swiss public research had found a route into commercial use before SoftBank arrived. Reducing that story to the genius of the investor is an insult to everyone who did the engineering.
The system fits excavators contractors already own, including machines from Caterpillar, Volvo and Hitachi. Keep the machine. Improve what it can do. Gravis claims productivity gains of up to 30% over peak manual operation (I would like to see the days when someone had to take over, preferably before paying). Why should a contractor care what an investor thinks the company is worth? The calculation is whether the upgrade earns back its cost on equipment already in service. A robot that needs constant rescue is an expensive way to keep a human busy. But a reliable improvement lets the owner get more work from the same excavator, without funding a replacement. That is a much tougher sales meeting than a pitch about abundance.
SoftBank’s $200M can now help Gravis expand internationally. Good. Switzerland benefits when foreign capital wants to scale what its researchers and industrial customers have helped develop. I would happily pay for more of that institutional patience: fund serious engineering and give it time to become useful, even when the early work has no valuation attached. The temptation is to celebrate the financing because it comes with a number large enough to put in a headline. Then the next policy discussion becomes a competition to produce the next enormous cheque. Try reproducing the relationship between the laboratory and the quarry instead. By the time SoftBank invested, Holcim was already using the machinery.
M. Hantale 🧀
- 🇨🇦 Diplomacy. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he is in favour of a form of strengthened partnership with the European Union, including a possible « associated » membership for Canada.
- 🇨🇠Growth. Switzerland’s economists have significantly raised their growth forecast for 2026 to 1.7% from 0.9% previously, whilst anticipating a slowdown following an exceptional second quarter.
- 🇺🇸 Policy. The US Federal Reserve raises its rates by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75% to 4%, despite calls from Donald Trump to reduce the cost of credit.
- 🇸🇪 Policy. The left narrowly wins the legislative election with 176 seats against 173 for the right allied with the far right, prompting Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to resign.
- 🇨🇠Defense. Parliament approves 3.4bn CHF in credits to modernise the armed forces, including an additional 394m CHF for the purchase of F-35 fighter jets.
Economy & Finance
- 🇬🇧 Jobs. British companies cut 39K jobs over the three months to end July, whilst job vacancies fell to 702K, their lowest level since 2014.
- 🇨🇠Trade. Switzerland approves the free trade agreement with Mercosur, which is to reduce customs duties on 98% of its exports. A referendum has been announced, whilst agriculture will receive CHF 517m over six years.
- 🇨🇦 Trade. Canada proposes to the United Kingdom to join its economic alliance project with the European Union, in order to strengthen trade between countries sharing the same interests.
- 🇺🇸 Rates. 86% of economists surveyed anticipate at least two Federal Reserve rate rises by the end of 2026, compared with 46% last month.
- 🇯🇵 Rates. The Bank of Japan raises its policy rate from 1% to 1.25%, its highest level since 1995, to contain persistent inflation.
- 🇩🇪 Tax. Berlin will reduce taxes on petrol and diesel by 14 cents per litre from 1 October, representing an expected reduction of 17 cents at the pump until the end of the year, at a cost of €2.5bn.
- 🇺🇸 Tax. The Trump administration is delaying the publication of an estimate of unpaid taxes, valued at approximately $700bn in 2022, whilst revenues from tax audits have fallen by more than a third.
- 🇫🇷 Budget. The French government is planning a budgetary effort of approximately €54bn in 2027 to significantly curb the growth of public spending.
- 🇫🇷 Deficit. France is projecting a public deficit of 5.4% of GDP in 2026, then 5.0% in 2027, according to government forecasts.
- 🇫🇷 Deficit. The French 10-year borrowing rate briefly exceeded 4.5%, a peak since September 2008, whilst the spread with Germany approaches 100 basis points.
- 🇪🇸 Deficit. Spain’s public debt fell below the symbolic threshold of 100% of GDP in July, to 99.9%, a first since February 2020.
- 🇨🇠Industry. Stadler Rail will supply eight hybrid locomotives to Italian operator Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal, as part of an investment programme of nearly €1bn in rail transport.
- 🇨🇠Agriculture. The agricultural cooperative Fenaco will distribute 7.2 million Swiss francs in exceptional aid to 13,000 Swiss farms affected by the summer drought.
- 🇩🇪 Raw materials. German electricity markets are displaying their highest tension since the energy crisis, with a megawatt-hour at over €180 for January.
- 🇪🇺 ECB. Christine Lagarde confirms she will step down from the presidency of the European Central Bank in 2027, without clarifying whether she will serve until the end of her mandate in October.
Switzerland
- 🇨🇠Policy. The referendum against the possibility of building new nuclear power plants has gathered more than 125,000 signatures, more than double the required threshold.
- 🇨🇠Diplomacy. The International Sustainability Standards Board will establish its headquarters in Geneva from mid-2027 onwards, strengthening the canton’s international role in the development of sustainability standards.
- 🇨🇠Justice. The Swiss Parliament approves up to 20m CHF to compensate victims and relatives of the Crans-Montana fire, through out-of-court settlements.
- 🇨🇠Security. Switzerland will host a European exercise from 6 to 9 October simulating a powerful earthquake in French-speaking Switzerland, with 500 participants, more than half of whom coming from abroad.
- 🇨🇠Education. Approximately 76,000 apprenticeship contracts have been signed in Switzerland, confirming the stability of vocational training for 2026.
- 🇨🇠Real Estate. Advertised rents in Switzerland have fallen by 1.7% year-on-year, a first in five years.
- 🇨🇠Real Estate. Housing construction is expected to accelerate in Switzerland, with 45,000 new net homes anticipated in 2026 and then 50,000 in 2027, compared to 39,000 in 2025.
- 🇨🇠Mobility. Swiss rail traffic reaches a record in 2025 with 23.7bn passenger-kilometres, up 3.2% year-on-year.
- 🇨🇠Mobility. For the first time, passengers travelling between Geneva and China outnumbered those heading to the United States last summer, with 29,300 compared to 25,300 in August.
- 🇨🇠Mobility. Lugano airport obtains the renewal of its operating licence for 30 years, until 15 September 2056.
- 🇨🇠Tourism. Swiss swimming pools recorded historic attendance during summer 2026, driven by favourable weather and record-breaking figures in Fribourg and Geneva.
- 🇨🇠Culture. Rolex quietly expands its classic collection with the Perpetual Padellone, an annual calendar inspired by a historical model and offered in three versions around 60kCHF.
- 🇨🇠Culture. The Grand Théâtre de Genève opens its new season with La Tempête, the sole opera by Genevan composer Frank Martin, performed by Stéphane Degout in the role of Prospero.
- 🇨🇠Culture. Valais will organise a ceremony on 1 January 2027 in Crans-Montana in tribute to the victims of the fire, one year after the tragedy.
- 🇨🇠Sport. Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser wins the world championship time trial for the second consecutive year, contested over 39.2 km in Montreal.
Elsewhere in the World
- 🇺🇦 Justice. President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, accused of covering up a network of fraudulent call centres in exchange for bribes.
- 🇽🇰 Justice. Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of 96 opponents, as well as for acts of torture and unlawful detention committed during the 1998-1999 war.
- 🇺🇸 Rights. The Trump administration has banned journalists from CNN, Politico and MSNBC from accessing the White House, a measure condemned as unconstitutional by press freedom advocates.
- 🇻🇪 Rights. Despite the political transition following Nicolás Maduro’s capture by the United States, Venezuela’s repressive apparatus remains largely intact, according to a UN fact-finding mission.
- 🇮🇷 Rights. Amnesty International accuses Iranian authorities of crimes against humanity during the suppression of 2022 protests, marked by killings, torture, rape and enforced disappearances.
- 🇵🇱 Conflict. Poland’s Prime Minister warns of possible Russian bombardment in the coming weeks, as border areas lack shelters and struggle to prepare.
- 🇸🇦 Conflict. A strike has heavily damaged Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, with its return to service potentially taking four to six weeks.
- 🇫🇮 Defense. Finland joins the French nuclear deterrence initiative, which provides for joint exercises, enhanced consultations and the possibility of temporarily deploying systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
- 🇰🇵 Defense. North Korea announces a combined military exercise involving attack drones, cruise missile, thermobaric rocket launcher and tactical ballistic missile.
- 🇱🇺 Security. Traffic at Luxembourg Airport was temporarily suspended following the detection of drones, whilst an investigation is underway to determine their origin.
- 🇺🇸 Security. An American strike against a boat suspected of drug trafficking killed four people in the Caribbean, bringing the death toll to more than 200 since September 2025.
- 🇩🇰 Diplomacy. Donald Trump announces an agreement with Denmark and Greenland giving the United States permanent control of their security, whilst maintaining Danish sovereignty over the Arctic territory.
- 🇸🇩 Disasters. The collapse of a gold mine in Kordofan, in southern Sudan, has killed at least 82 people and left many missing beneath the rubble.
- 🇨🇺 Energy. Cuba has suffered its 7th nationwide power outage since the beginning of 2026, amid ageing infrastructure and fuel shortages.
- 🇩🇪 Innovation. Germany is investing €15m in an artificial intelligence and microelectronics platform designed to analyse data directly at the heart of sensors, without resorting to a remote computing centre.
- 🇺🇸 Pharma. Roche and its American subsidiary Genentech are opening a research centre in Boston dedicated to cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, which will be able to accommodate up to 500 specialists.
- 🇨🇠Food & Beverage. Nestlé retains ownership of two Russian subsidiaries but temporarily loses their operational control following a decree by Vladimir Putin entrusting their management to LEV Management.
- 🇨🇠Retail. Kylian Mbappé leaves Nike to join On, which also appoints Thierry Henry as football director and accelerates its diversification beyond running and tennis.
- 🇨🇠Stock Market. Trader Radiant World accuses Glencore of concealing the nature of their commercial relationship in its audited accounts and is claiming over $2bn in damages in Singapore.
- 🇨🇠Stock Market. The agrochemical group Syngenta, based in Switzerland and owned by China, is preparing an IPO in Hong Kong that could reach $5bn, following the abandonment of its listing project in Shanghai.
SMI Index
| Name | Price | Mkt Cap | 7d Chg | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roche | 364.80 | 290.66B | â–¼ -1.0% | â–² +13.1% |
| Novartis | 115.10 | 218.77B | â–² +1.1% | â–² +6.1% |
| Nestlé | 76.27 | 196.18B | ▼ -2.1% | ▼ -0.2% |
| ABB | 80.02 | 144.90B | â–² +4.4% | â–² +30.7% |
| UBS | 41.89 | 127.22B | â–² +0.1% | â–² +9.8% |
| Zurich Insurance | 607.60 | 89.11B | â–² +1.1% | â–² +1.3% |
| Swiss Re | 138.75 | 40.92B | â–¼ -0.9% | â–² +6.6% |
| Lonza | 538.40 | 38.11B | â–² +0.2% | â–² +0.5% |
| Holcim | 68.46 | 37.37B | â–² +0.6% | â–¼ -12.4% |
| Swisscom | 673.00 | 33.59B | â–² 0.0% | â–² +16.2% |
| Givaudan | 3,270.00 | 29.99B | â–² +1.7% | â–² +5.3% |
| Sika | 184.70 | 29.27B | â–² +2.8% | â–² +12.8% |
| Alcon | 53.66 | 25.94B | â–¼ -2.8% | â–¼ -15.6% |
| Swiss Life | 922.20 | 25.83B | â–² +1.1% | â–¼ -1.1% |
| SGS | 93.34 | 18.38B | â–² +0.8% | â–² +0.4% |
| Geberit | 544.80 | 17.44B | â–² +0.3% | â–¼ -11.6% |
| Partners Group | 621.00 | 15.79B | â–¼ -0.6% | â–¼ -39.7% |
| Straumann | 95.18 | 15.08B | â–¼ -0.8% | â–² +0.9% |
| Julius Bär | 73.50 | 14.88B | ▲ +1.2% | ▲ +11.7% |
| Logitech | 82.34 | 11.89B | â–¼ -0.2% | â–² +3.6% |
📅 Data as of 2026-09-21 07:48
Forex CHF
| Pair | Rate | 7d Chg | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/CHF | 0.94 | â–¼ -0.13% | â–² +1.41% |
| USD/CHF | 0.82 | â–² +0.34% | â–² +3.76% |
| GBP/CHF | 1.10 | â–¼ -0.25% | â–² +3.15% |
📅 Data as of 2026-09-21 07:48
Zurich Lost a Bank. Switzerland Lost Nothing.
Zurich just lost a 102-year-old bank to a suburb. That is the Swiss system working as designed. From 2030, Vontobel moves more than 1,500 staff to Baar, canton of Zug, twenty minutes by train from the old headquarters. The bank says tax had nothing to do with it. Nobody in Zug believes that, and nobody in Zug minds.
Twenty-six cantons, the semi-sovereign states that make up the country, set their own rates and bid for taxpayers the way US states bid for factories. Lucerne took the lowest corporate rate this year, 11.66%, from Zug at 11.71%. Bern sits at 20.54%. Zurich is around 19%. For individuals the spread is wider still, a top marginal rate near 22% in Zug against 45% in Geneva. Inside the EU only Hungary goes lower, at 9%, and Hungary is a country. Lucerne is a canton of 420,000 people and a lake.
Zurich’s finance chief did the arithmetic. Cutting the cantonal profit tax by one point would cost CHF150M. Filling that hole would take new companies employing 75,000 people. Zurich has no room for 75,000 desks. So Zurich will not outbid Zug. It does not need to. One other company among its 50 largest taxpayers has left for a cheaper canton in ten years. City corporate tax receipts rose 25% in five. Losing a bank to Baar is losing it to the suburbs.
The suburbs bid against each other too. When two cantons dispute where a rich resident really lives, judges read water bills and supermarket receipts. Toilet paper purchases have been entered into evidence. Millennium, $92B under management, already runs a bigger office in Zug than in Geneva and is negotiating a tax arrangement to bring more traders west. Geneva cut its corporate rate in 2019 and its income tax in 2024 to stop the bleeding. It bids against Zug, not against London or Dubai. The auction never leaves the country.
Then Washington and Brussels pushed through the OECD’s 15% minimum tax, a reserve price meant to end the auction. Swiss voters approved it with 78%. Large groups in Zug and Lucerne now pay 15% instead of 11.7%, and the 50 largest listed Swiss companies paid CHF564M for 2025 in top-up tax, the levy that lifts them to 15%. Of what Switzerland collects, 75% goes to the cantons that would have undercut it. The reserve price became a cantonal revenue line. Vontobel, well above the €750M threshold, faces a 15% floor in Baar against roughly 19% in Zurich. The gap shrank. It did not close.
The lesson, for anyone watching the UK chase out its non-doms or the EU draft another harmonisation directive: a government forced to bid against 25 neighbours behaves like a company. It watches costs. It answers the phone. Switzerland never decided to be efficient. It built a system in which inefficiency loses taxpayers by the next train. Zurich was outbid. The house keeps the commission either way.
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