Sovereign AI
National or locally controlled AI capacity, including infrastructure, data, models, and policy, built to serve a country's interests rather than depend entirely on foreign stacks.
Sovereign AI usually means a country owning and operating enough of the AI stack, compute, data, models, and rules, to pursue its own goals without full dependence on foreign providers. At the India AI Impact Summit in 2026, US delegation lead Michael Kratsios argued that partners should pursue sovereign capability on trusted technology rather than wait to rebuild every layer domestically.
The term sits between open markets and techno-nationalism. Summits in the Global South often pair calls to democratise access with demands that nations control how AI is deployed at home, even when they sign non-binding declarations about shared values.