EU AI sovereignty: for whom, to what end, and to whose benefit?

Abstract

ABSTRACT EU policy emphasises the need for digital sovereignty, also in artificial intelligence (AI). But because such ‘AI sovereignty’ could be used for diverse and even conflicting goals, it obscures the tensions that actual EU AI strategy entails. Conceptually, this article proposes three central trade-offs: first, does AI sovereignty pit the EU against other major AI powers, or rather citizens against large tech companies? Second, is AI sovereignty meant to boost the EU’s position in a putative AI race, or is it a means to defy this competitiveness-logic, instead? And third, is EU AI sovereignty primarily meant to benefit European citizens, or does it embrace a global responsibility? The empirical analysis then maps the EU Commission’s AI strategy since 2018 and the EU AI Act negotiations onto these three dimensions. It reveals that EU AI policy prioritises jurisdictional independence over citizens sovereignty, that it embraces a global AI race logic, and that it largely neglects its impact on people beyond the EU. This orientation of EU AI sovereignty resonates with and feeds into rising geo-economic tensions. But it would underestimate the importance of public policy to assume that it flowed naturally from technological transformations, rather than from political choices.