Thirty years ago, Brewster Kahle founded the Internet Archive with an ambitious goal: Universal Access to All Knowledge. Today, that mission continues to grow with an exciting new chapter: the launch of the Internet Archive Switzerland, a non-profit foundation based in St. Gallen.
The Internet Archive Switzerland, online at https://internetarchive.ch/, is a newly-formed Swiss non-profit foundation that will operate independently within its national context. Its efforts will initially focus on preserving endangered archives from around the world and collecting the generative AI wave that is currently upon us all. With a UNESCO conference planned for November 2026 in Paris, Internet Archive Switzerland is taking a concrete step to explore how endangered archives can be protected.
In parallel, the Swiss foundation is working in partnership with the School of Computer Science at the University of St. Gallen, on the Gen AI Archive project led by Prof. Dr. Damian Borth. Together, they aim to begin archiving AI models, which is an emerging frontier for preservation.
The choice of St. Gallen is no coincidence. With a thousand-year tradition of archiving and scholarship, the city offers a fitting home for this next phase of digital preservation. Its strong academic environment—including collaboration with the University of St. Gallen—makes it an ideal place to establish a 21st century memory organization.
“St. Gallen is a very suitable place to take the preservation of our universal knowledge a step further. Stability and innovation go hand in hand here and are embedded in a deep understanding of the importance of cultural heritage,” said Roman Griesfelder, the executive director of Internet Archive Switzerland.
Internet Archive Switzerland joins a growing group of mission-aligned organizations, alongside Internet Archive, Internet Archive Canada, and Internet Archive Europe. Together, these independent libraries strengthen a shared vision: building a distributed, resilient digital library for the world.
Contact Internet Archive Switzerland
Roman Griesfelder, executive director
[email protected]