Sovereign AI

September 16 2024, by Macquarie Data Centres | Category: Data Centres

Is Sovereign AI The Future of Artificial Intelligence?

Generative AI is unavoidable—a $45 billion USD industry expected to grow to $207 billion by 2030. It automates time-consuming tasks, creates new forms of art, and even (for better or for worse) helps students do their homework.

Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed all industries, and it isn’t going away any time soon. But with these opportunities and benefits come new risks. The displacement of jobs, concerns around ethics and bias, and matters of national security are all pressing concerns.

In turn, many nations are building their own independent AI solutions that work to tackle problems and discover opportunities in the context of that nation. This is the concept of ‘sovereign AI’.

A good starting point to understanding Sovereign AI is understanding the concept of sovereignty. With that completed, we can begin to explore the implications of AI and look at nations that are using sovereign AI to meet their goals.

We’ll cover all of that in this guide. But first. What is sovereign AI? And why are nations making it a core objective this year?

What is sovereign AI?

The basic definition: Sovereign AI is a specialised, self-supporting artificial intelligence solution trained and built using a nation’s infrastructure, data, and workforce to serve that nation’s digital sovereignty.

AI sovereignty is a branch of digital sovereignty—the idea that global technology shapes society and, therefore, must be controlled and adapted to defend and promote the interests of a specific nation.

Sounds complex. But we can break it down further. To expand on this, we should first look at the concept of sovereignty as a whole.

How AI threatens national sovereignty.

Sovereignty is, conventionally, a nation’s ability to govern itself without any support or interference from the outside world.

Governments and entities routinely invest in infrastructure to support their needs and safeguard their futures. Think of internally designed systems to enhance transportation, the economy, healthcare and cybersecurity.

However, with the global rise of generative AI, this independence has become more challenging as industries and workforces are impacted on a global scale. AI contributes to homogeneity. It erodes distinctiveness and has the potential to make nations reliant on external AI technologies that don’t consider the context of a country’s needs.

Therefore, it’s little surprise nations are intent on producing their own self-sufficient AI models.

How sovereign AI solves this problem.

Sovereign AI is a solution to the threat AI poses to national sovereignty. It allows nations to fine-tune their models using their own infrastructure and resources. These models can be trained domestically on a nation’s own data within the legal framework of a particular region.

What results is a sovereign solution designed to serve a niche function exclusive to the requirements of the country that created it. Consider a large-language model that includes a specific nation’s cultural practices and regional dialects. Or a sovereign accelerated computing model designed to combat climate change in the context of a nation’s ongoing problems.

Crucial to this concept is that the sovereign AI is self-sufficient and can learn from its mistakes and adapt its strategies autonomously.

Of course, sovereign AI is about more than just tech. It is also a statement of a country’s autonomy and a reflection of its identity. Rather than relying on the public sector, nations want to build their own models that both reflect their culture and help them stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

The advantages of sovereign AI.

Sovereign AI offers advantages in several areas. Let’s look at the main four.

Security: The opportunity for nations to control their own security infrastructure can prevent foreign intervention and potential manipulation.
Privacy: A nation can also keep its data within national borders to protect the privacy of its citizens.
Economy: Sovereign AI capabilities can also provide several economic perks. They promote domestic independence and local AI innovation and allow countries to stimulate local industries without external support.
Competitive advantage: And lastly—the obvious. AI sovereignty allows nations to solve problems that are specific to them. They can develop unique strategies in the context of their country to drive innovation and overcome challenges. Nations that build their own sovereign AI will have a competitive advantage over those who fall behind in the AI arms race.

The Challenges of Sovereign AI.

But sovereign AI initiatives aren’t without challenges. Let’s take a look.

Siloed strategies: There is a growing concern that AI sovereignty could hinder innovation on a global scale. It may encourage countries to avoid collaboration and cooperation, leading to slower progress worldwide.
Ethics: Collecting data domestically raises concerns about ethical AI applications. If a nation develops a biased or immoral AI solution to further its agenda, what is in place to stop it? The creation of legislation is essential to preventing this from occurring.
Cost: Sovereign AI is expensive. The infrastructure, the data requirements, and the workforce all cost money. Could smaller nations be unfairly ‘priced out’ of the AI race? And if so, how can we overcome those barriers?
Workforce: In smaller countries, there may not be enough domestic talent to support sovereign AI at scale. A careful balance must be found between stimulating industries and education while also attracting international support.

How is sovereign AI possible?

Making sovereign AI a reality isn’t straightforward. It encompasses several domains, and improvements are still needed to mitigate risks and maximise opportunities.

As such, there are several requirements to facilitate it and ensure it is handled responsibly. Let’s look at some of the requirements now.

1. Infrastructure.

Sovereign AI demands state-of-the-art data centres that are equipped for the power, cooling and security demands of advanced accelerated computing platforms. Utilising sovereign data centres can enhance security and sovereignty by ensuring that data is generated and processed exclusively within national borders.

2. Machine learning.

Building self-sufficient models requires enormous computing capacity and machines capable of artificial general intelligence—self-aware, strong AI solutions that can learn rapidly and explore data self-sufficiently based on the context of a particular nation. Training these models requires time and resources.

3. Data.

Sovereign AI models are built on robust datasets. Nations must have vast multi-disciplinary information to feed into the AI solution to help them learn.

4. Workforce.

While sovereign AI is built for self-sufficiency, it still requires human intervention. Developing these models requires a skilled data science workforce. Facilitating this includes hiring the best and brightest AI experts and creating an education system that encourages students to pursue careers in AI.

5. Ethics.

Nations must ensure ethical frameworks exist that set clear guidelines for AI development. Legislation surrounding privacy, accountability, security, transparency and protection are crucial to safeguard users and ensure AI is created and used responsibly.

6. Communication.

Leaders must encourage open dialogues between business networks and, on a broader scale, with other nations. While sovereign AI is primarily about leveraging AI within national borders, engaging in these dialogues can help set ethical standards and address challenges surrounding security and privacy.

Each of these factors is crucial, but they aren’t always easy to achieve. A sustained effort is required to make sure sovereign AI can be handled properly. Let’s take a look at some countries that are currently working on the technology.

Exploring sovereign AI in action.

Sovereign AI is here. Many nations have already made inroads into their solutions. Let’s detail a few.

India’s plan for sovereign AI.

India’s government has approved $1.24 billion USD of funding to develop the nation’s sovereign AI platform. At the centre of this strategy will be a new supercomputer containing at least 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs). Plans are also in place for the creation of a new academic institution that will lead the development of foundation models.

Japan’s sovereignty plan.

The Japanese government announced plans to pled g e $740 million USD to develop the nation’s sovereign AI infrastructure. The aim is to promote domestic AI computing models by subsidising the cost of building AI supercomputers.

It is hoped that this will support the building of AI factories and Japanese large language models (LLMs) that will solve issues unique to Japan surrounding climate change and natural disasters. Nvidia AI is also supporting this investment.

Singapore’s national AI strategy.

In Singapore, plans are underway for a custom sovereign LLM as part of the nation’s National AI Strategy. The strategy is driven by the need to develop a sovereign AI solution that reflects Singapore’s local and regional cultures rather than those of the West, where most generative AI platforms originate.

Taiwan’s sovereign model strategy.

Taiwan is constructing an LLM known as the Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine (Taide). This Sovereign AI system is funded by the Taiwanese government and designed specifically to counter the politically biased information produced by Chinese AI tools like the Ernie bot.

While based on Meta’s open-source Llama 2 model, the solution has been adapted to reflect national Taiwanese government news sources and local media.

The future of sovereign AI.

Navigating the future of sovereign AI is going to be a balancing act.

On the one hand, countries can take control of their future and create models that work for their benefit. There are new opportunities for innovation and for nations to stimulate economic growth and overcome the issues they face.

On the other hand, several challenges remain to be overcome. New ethical frameworks must take centre stage to ensure nations do not misuse sovereign AI. Equality for nations that lack the funds or talent pool to facilitate AI sovereignty will be another critical talking point over the coming years.

Next, and perhaps most importantly, the world needs to find the balance between self-sufficiency and collaboration. Sovereign AI could further fragment the already fragile global digital economy as multiple nations fight to ‘win the race’.

Maintaining diplomatic relations will be crucial for ethical sovereign AI development and ensuring its benefits are shared.

The infrastructure behind sovereign AI.

AI and cloud data centres are integral to sovereign AI’s success. They provide the power to store and process vast data sets, helping sovereign AI learn and improve.

But choosing an AI and cloud data centre isn’t necessarily straightforward. Relying on external data centres introduces new concerns surrounding data sovereignty and data security.

If the data centre stores information across several locations, for instance, there may be issues with non-compliance with data residency laws. Overseas data centres may also not abide by the same legislation and ethical considerations regarding data handling and storage.

With these considerations in mind, the foundation of any good sovereign AI solution is the sovereign data centre.

The sovereign data centre.

Sovereign data centres are designed for sovereign AI. These data centres operate entirely within a single nation’s borders and serve that nation’s objectives. This means they are certified and meet specific data governance and security criteria within that country.

These sovereign data centres are distinguishable through their certifications. For instance, the Australian Hosting Certification Framework accredits sovereign data centres that meet highly specific criteria in upholding the nation’s security, sovereignty, and privacy.

Sovereign data centres offer several advantages:

Compliance: Sovereign data centres support compliance. They guarantee that all data is handled and stored in line with a nation’s regulations. This is especially important when ensuring the privacy of sensitive data.
Security: Sovereign data centres safeguard sensitive data. Access controls and encryption standards that align with the nation’s data protection regulations are commonplace.
Interference: A Sovereign data centre reduces the risk of interference from foreign governments. It keeps a nation’s cards close to its chest. And therefore eliminates the possibility of espionage.

Sovereign data centres aren’t yet widespread. But, as countries continue to invest in domestic infrastructure to support large-scale sovereign AI movements, this is set to change.

Sovereign AI is the future of artificial intelligence.

Generative AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, sovereign AI solutions have the potential to level the playing field. They can promote inclusiveness and help countries leverage AI to solve problems unique to them.

Facilitating sovereign AI requires a committed approach. Nations must prioritise developing their workforce and building ethical frameworks that ensure AI is used responsibly.

Key to this change will be the sovereign AI data centre, which will act as the necessary infrastructure behind sovereign AI—ensuring that data is stored and processed in a way that protects national interests.

Enter Macquarie Data Centres.

Macquarie Data Centres are trusted by hyperscalers, multinational enterprises, ASX-listed companies and 42% of the Australian Federal Government. All our sovereign data centres are part of the nations critical infrastructure and are Certified Strategic by the Australian Government. Our flagship Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus in Sydney’s north zone is purpose-built to support the growing demands of AI and cloud in Australia’s digital economy.

Want to learn more about our sovereign data centres? Browse the links below.

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