February 16, 2026

The Sovereignty Gap in U.S. AI Statecraft

By: Pablo Chavez

This article was originally published in Lawfare.

As the India AI Impact Summit kicks off this week, the Trump administration has embraced the language of “sovereign AI.” Through the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the emerging American AI Exports Program, the administration is seeking to position the United States as a partner that can help countries build sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities using American technology.

Partners decide how AI systems are configured and what rules govern their use. But key dependencies underneath that deployment layer—including advanced chips, frontier AI models, and cloud infrastructure—remain U.S.-originated or U.S.-controlled, even when facilities are built and operated locally by domestic providers.

But there is an irony to this: The concept of AI sovereignty is one that many countries are developing specifically to reduce their reliance on the United States. The traction that sovereign AI is gaining around the world reflects, in significant part, unease about U.S. policy. Many countries developing AI systems are hedging against the possibility that Washington will change the rules, restrict access, or use technology dependence as leverage. That hedging is pushing partners toward notions of sovereignty that may be incompatible with what the administration is prepared to offer. That offer might look like a reasonable middle ground in a more stable policy environment, but it’s less attractive in a period marked by tariff disputes with allies and partners, questions about multilateral commitments, and rising tensions within alliances.

Read the full article on Lawfare.

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