Sovereign AI
Working knowledgeGovernance, Safety and Ethics
Sovereign AI is the principle that a nation or organisation keeps control over where AI runs and where the underlying data lives, rather than ceding it to foreign providers or systems it cannot inspect or govern. At the level of a single company it narrows to data residency, the legal requirement that certain data remain within a specific jurisdiction.
In practice
For firms in regulated or sensitive sectors this is often the deciding factor in whether an AI deployment is permissible at all, so settle it before the shortlist rather than after. Ask each vendor which region processes the request, which region stores the logs, and whether either can be fixed contractually.