Apertus: The "Public Radio" of AI You Can Actually Use
We’ve spent the last three years watching tech giants scrape the internet dry to build black-box brains. Apertus (70B) is the antidote: a powerful, Swiss-made AI model that is fully transparent, legally compliant, and surprisingly capable—hosted for free on PublicAI.
Think of it as the Wikipedia of chatbots. While OpenAI and Google hide their secret sauce, Apertus shows you the receipts (literally, the training data and code are open). It’s an open-weight model accessed via a simple chat interface that feels less like a product and more like a public utility.
🤝 What It Actually Does
- The "Clean" Conscience: It was trained only on data where creators didn't opt out (respecting
robots.txt). If you need an AI that didn't ingest your favorite author's pirated books, this is it. - The Polyglot Powerhouse: It supports over 1,800 languages, including "low-resource" ones like Swiss German or Romansh. It handles translation for obscure dialects far better than the US-centric giants.
- Transparency Mode: Because the architecture is fully documented, it’s less likely to "hallucinate" in ways that are impossible to trace. It doesn't just give you an answer; it exists on a framework where you can theoretically check why it gave that answer.
The Real Cost (Free vs. Paid)
The model weights are open-source (free if you have the GPUs), but for us mortals, we use the hosted chat on PublicAI.
| Plan | Cost | Key Limits/Perks |
|---|---|---|
| PublicAI Free | $0 | Generous access to Apertus 70B (login required). |
| PublicAI Pro | $99/mo | Priority speed, API access, and enterprise compliance tools. |
The Catch: It respects copyright too well. If you ask it to mimic the style of a writer who blocked AI crawlers (like the NYT or specific novelists), it won't be as effective as ChatGPT. It can also feel slightly "drier" than the personality-infused modes of Claude or Grok.
How It Stacks Up
Here is how Apertus 70B compares to the heavy hitters of late 2025:
- vs. ChatGPT (OpenAI): ChatGPT is smoother, faster, and better at pop culture because it devoured everything. Apertus is the strict librarian who only read the books she was allowed to borrow. Apertus is safer for enterprise use; ChatGPT is better for creative writing.
- vs. DeepSeek: Both are open-weight darlings. DeepSeek is often faster at coding and math efficiency. Apertus wins on legal safety and European regulatory compliance (EU AI Act ready).
- vs. Claude: Claude focuses on "safety" via hidden constitution. Apertus focuses on "transparency" via open data. If you want a safety rail you can see, pick Apertus.
The Verdict
Apertus isn't trying to be the smartest god in the box; it's trying to be the most trustworthy. In a world where we are increasingly suspicious of what AI companies are doing with our data, Apertus feels like a breath of fresh, alpine air.
It is the perfect "second opinion" tool. Use ChatGPT for your creative slop and quick emails. But when you need to summarize a document, translate a rare language, or work on something where data provenance actually matters, switch to Apertus. It proves that AI doesn't have to be a black box to be brilliant.
