The Next Global AI Power Race Will Be Won Through Digital Sovereignty
Summary
The article emphasizes that the future of AI dominance will not rely solely on GPUs. It warns that nations lacking control over cryptography and digital identity risk losing trust, security, and their position on the global stage.
Key Insights
What does ‘digital sovereignty’ mean in the context of the AI power race?
Digital sovereignty means a nation’s ability to control its digital infrastructure, data flows, and the governance of technologies (including AI) so that critical components—data, models, compute, identity, and cryptography—remain under national control or oversight rather than being dependent on foreign providers or jurisdictions. This control can include domestic data residency rules, national cloud or AI compute platforms, local development and deployment of models, and legal/regulatory frameworks that govern cryptography and digital identity to ensure trust and security.
Why are cryptography and digital identity singled out as critical for a country’s AI competitiveness and security?
Cryptography and digital identity underpin trust, secure data exchange, and verifiable control over digital assets—functions that AI systems depend on for privacy, integrity, and accountable use. Without national control or reliable standards for cryptographic keys and identity systems, governments risk having sensitive data exposed, losing the ability to audit or verify AI decision-making, and becoming vulnerable to foreign legal or technical leverage. That loss of control can weaken public trust, hamper secure deployment of AI in critical infrastructure, and diminish a nation’s standing in geopolitical competition.