Feeling blue: falling confidence, rising inflation, and a ‘face theft’ lawsuit

Neytiri, a character in ‘Avatar’. Keystpone/Swissinfo

Welcome to our press review of events in the United States. Every Wednesday we look at how the Swiss media have reported and reacted to three major stories in the US – in politics, finance and science.

Have you ever had your likeness used by AI? I once presented a short video in English and, a few buttons later, I found myself presenting it in Arabic! The mouth movements and voice were impressively realistic (I have no idea how good the Arabic was). Sadly I’m not famous, but many Hollywood stars are having to take measures to prevent their “biometric identity” being exploited. This week I examine the case of Q’orianka Kilcher, who says her distinctive features were used in Avatar – the most successful film of all time – without her permission.

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Since Donald Trump moved back into the White House in January 2025, the confidence of many partners in the stability of the transatlantic order has been damaged. Copyright 2019. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Europeans’ trust in the US is falling significantly, according to a survey. Nevertheless, they are not turning their backs on the West but are seeking greater autonomy. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) analysed the results.

One finding of the Europe-wide poll by the Bertelsmann Foundation is that 73% of participants say the European Union should “go its own way”; in 2024 the figure was 63%.

“The second finding is as dramatic as it is predictable: trust in the United States has fallen significantly,” the NZZ said on Thursday, noting that 58% of Europeans no longer consider America a reliable partner. In Germany, the figure is 73%. “The impression is emerging of a Europe that is seeking distance from Washington without abandoning its anchoring in the Western model of order.”

The background to this development is clear, the newspaper said. “Since Trump moved back into the White House in early 2025, punitive tariffs against European countries, doubts about American NATO guarantees and foreign policy decisions that many partners found difficult to comprehend have damaged confidence in the stability of the transatlantic order. The study explicitly refers to a ‘Trump effect’.”

The NZZ said that, measured against the usual fluctuations in opinion polls, this is more than just a routine shift in opinion. “It points to a break in the history of attitudes: it is precisely that generation, which was still strongly shaped politically by the Cold War, the American security guarantee and the West’s self-image, that is losing confidence in the stability of the American order.”

Added to this, according to the NZZ, is a second, less tangible factor. “For decades, America’s leadership role was based not only on military and economic strength, but also on its cultural and political appeal. This soft power also appears to be losing its impact: if even the generation socialised on the American model is distancing itself, this suggests that not only trust in its reliability but also the attractiveness of this model is eroding: the current manifestation of the American self-image seems to have lost much of its appeal in Europe.”

• The ‘Trump effect’External link – NZZ analysis (German, paywall)

In April, a steak cost 16.1% more than a year earlier. Keystone

“US inflation at its highest for nearly three years” was a headline in Le Temps on Tuesday. This is causing concern in the White House, the paper said, as the conflict in Iran drags on and the mid-term elections approach.

At 3.8% year-on-year in April, the consumer price index is at its highest since May 2023. This compares with 3.3% in March and 2.4% in February, Le Temps reported. Petrol weighed heavily (+28.4% year-on-year), but price rises were widespread across the rest of the economy, from rent to plane tickets.

“In the land of burgers, beef is one of the products whose rising cost is alarming consumers in the run-up to the mid-term elections in November,” the Geneva newspaper wrote. “In April, a steak cost 16.1% more than a year earlier, and minced meat 14.5% more. Signs of relief are rare, for example at car dealerships.”

At petrol stations, the effects of the war in the Middle East continued to be felt in May. A gallon (about 3.8 litres) of ordinary petrol now costs an average of $4.50 (CHF3.50), compared with around $3 just before the war, Le Temps wrote, citing benchmark figures from the American Automobile Association.

“Trump’s administration insists that the economic disruption is temporary for Americans,” the newspaper said.

• Report in Le TempsExternal link (French, paywall)

Q’orianka Kilcher (left) and Neytiri. New Line Cinema / AFP, AP Photo 20th Century Fox / Keystone

Actor Q’orianka Kilcher is suing director James Cameron for using her features for his blue heroine in Avatar without her consent. This is a “symptomatic case”, according to Le Temps in Geneva, at a time when, threatened by artificial intelligence (AI), “celebrities are being stripped of their features and voices”.

“The full, slightly upturned lips, the round tip of the nose, the prominent chin. Apart from the lagoon-blue skin, the resemblance is striking – and now at the heart of a lawsuit,” Le Temps wrote on Sunday.

Kilcher, 36, of indigenous Peruvian descent, took legal action against Cameron and Disney Studios last week, accusing them of using her features to create Neytiri, the alien warrior in the Avatar films. Cameron was allegedly inspired by a photo of Kilcher playing the role of Pocahontas in The New World (2005).

The Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich also covered the case, adding that Kilcher is also the great-granddaughter of Yule Kilcher, born Julius Jacob Kilcher in northern Switzerland, who emigrated and became an American homesteader and member of the Alaska state senate from 1963 to 1966.

Le Temps explained how, back in 2009, when the first Avatar film came out, Cameron’s sketches were brought to life by digital modelling. Now, however, AI enables extraction on an industrial scale. “Your mug reduced to a mere template – mapped, replicated, and repurposed ad infinitum,” it wrote.

“And on the vast plains of LA, the first alarms are ringing,” it added, noting that last month singer Taylor Swift filed three trademark applications designed to protect her image and her voice.

“Artificial intelligence is a threat to everyone, from icons to ordinary people,” Le Temps concluded. “But by depriving them of their economic capital, it threatens the very existence of stars. All that’s left for them to do is choose: endure it, unite against it … or ride the wave? Like actor Matthew McConaughey, who last year signed a contract with voice AI company ElevenLabs to create a synthetic version of his voice. Embracing the inevitable so that, this time, the avatar becomes a choice.”

• Taylor Swift, ‘Avatar’ – among the stars, the great face theft has begunExternal link – Le Temps (French, paywall)

• Great-granddaughter of a Solothurn emigrant sues ‘Avatar’ directorExternal link – Tages-Anzeiger (German, paywall)

• Lawsuit: Q’orianka Kilcher vs James CameronExternal link

• A multicultural Swiss in Hollywood: Q’orianka KilcherExternal link – SRF, 2013 (German)

The next edition of ‘Swiss views of US news’ will be published on Wednesday, May 20. See you then!

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