The AI clause that is starting to appear in customer contracts
Swiss companies are beginning to find AI wording in contracts their customers send them. Three shapes, and what each one actually asks of you.
A development worth knowing about before it reaches you: customers — particularly larger ones and public bodies — have begun putting AI clauses into supplier contracts. If you sell services to companies, you will see one.
They come in three shapes, and the difference between them is substantial.
Shape one: disclosure
« The supplier shall inform the client if artificial intelligence is used in the provision of the services. »
Mild, reasonable, and easy to satisfy. You need to know what your own tools do — which is the inventory from 19 September — and then write a sentence. Agree to it.
Shape two: restriction
« The supplier shall not process client data using artificial intelligence systems without prior written consent. »
This one deserves attention, because it is broader than the person who wrote it usually intends. Read literally, it covers the spam filter on your mailbox, the transcription in your meeting software, and the autocomplete in your word processor.
Do not sign it as written unless you genuinely operate that way. The workable counter-proposal is to narrow it to what they actually mean: no client data into general-purpose AI services outside our contracted providers. Most clients accept that immediately, because it is what they were trying to say.
Shape three: warranty
« The supplier warrants that all deliverables are free from AI-generated content. »
Be careful. You cannot warrant this in 2025 unless you have banned the tools internally and can prove it. A warranty you cannot verify is a liability you have accepted for free.
Counter with a commitment you can keep: deliverables are reviewed and approved by a named human who takes responsibility for their accuracy. That is what the client wants and what you can actually stand behind.
The general rule
Clauses in this area are currently written by people copying from templates, and they are frequently broader than the intention behind them. Asking « what are you trying to prevent? » usually produces a clause both sides can sign in ten minutes.