How Countries Are Building Digital Independence with Sovereign AI

How Nations are Forging Their Own Digital Futures with Sovereign AI

There has been increasing discussion about sovereign AI and its impact on countries and corporations. Following NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s call for nations to adopt sovereign AI, many leaders have stressed the need for AI infrastructure that supports digital sovereignty. However, sovereign AI isn’t a new concept. Since 2018, ASUS has been developing sovereign AI infrastructure and delivering customized AI solutions, including Taiwan’s first AI supercomputer, Taiwania 2.

In 2021, Taiwan AI Cloud was founded as a subsidiary of ASUS to foster public-private partnerships with the Taiwan government. Together, ASUS and Taiwan AI Cloud provide the technology, expertise, and support necessary for countries to build secure, high-performance AI capabilities that remain under national control and reflect local culture.

What is Sovereign AI?

Sovereign AI is a nation's effort to independently develop, manage, and deploy AI technologies aligned with its values, security needs, and economic goals. It involves building domestic AI research, talent, and infrastructure to reduce reliance on foreign providers.

Key aspects include data sovereignty—keeping control of data used for AI training—and governance models that ensure ethical AI development. Concerns over national security, economic competitiveness, and privacy drive this focus. Building independent AI capabilities helps countries protect against cyber threats and ensures AI reflects their ethical standards and societal benefits.

The Different Types of Sovereign AI

While the idea of AI sovereignty sounds simple, few countries can manufacture every component of advanced AI systems domestically. Technology supply chains are global and complex. Sovereign AI is therefore multi-layered and varies based on a nation’s priorities and capabilities.

Common types of sovereign AI include:

• Data Sovereignty – Keeping sensitive data within national borders, governed by local laws to prevent foreign access or interference.
• Algorithmic and Model Sovereignty – Controlling AI model development and deployment to ensure they reflect local languages, cultures, and regulations rather than foreign biases.
• Operational and Infrastructure Sovereignty – Building and managing AI infrastructure domestically, with operational control and security maintained by local teams. ASUS supports this through secure and powerful hardware solutions.
• Talent Sovereignty – Developing a local workforce skilled in AI research, development, and operations to sustain long-term capabilities.
• Application Sovereignty – Creating AI applications targeted to national priorities in sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, and public safety without external restrictions.

First Steps to AI Sovereignty

Countries or organizations aiming for sovereign AI typically follow a phased approach. ASUS and Taiwan AI Cloud provide technology, expertise, and ongoing support to guide this process.

• Phase 1 – Strategic Planning & Design: Experts collaborate with governments and companies to identify AI goals, analyze data and infrastructure, and develop a custom plan including hardware and software recommendations that ensure data security.
• Phase 2 – Build, Deploy, & Localize: Taiwan AI Cloud deploys the physical infrastructure—servers, GPUs, data centers—and installs essential AI software platforms. They also adapt or train AI models with local data to meet language and cultural needs.
• Phase 3 – Operational Empowerment & Sustainable Growth: Ongoing support helps nations manage AI systems, securely process data, and develop applications. Emphasis is placed on knowledge transfer to build a self-sustaining AI ecosystem and workforce.

A Complete Set of Tools

One key offering is the AI Foundry Service (AFS), a turnkey solution that helps nations and enterprises build secure, scalable, and autonomous sovereign AI systems. It includes high-performance computing hardware, optimized software stacks, and cloud-native and on-premise AI tools.

Through its AI Compute Foundry, Taiwan AI Cloud delivers end-to-end infrastructure solutions integrating ASUS servers and AI-optimized environments. Large AI data centers can be operational in as little as eight weeks, with ongoing operational support.

The AI Model Foundry accelerates model training using frameworks like the Formosa Foundation Model, tailored for local languages and use cases. Taiwan AI Cloud also operates Asia’s first commercial AIHPC supercomputer for industry and offers AI Compute Resell services that connect enterprises with startups, fostering AI innovation.

The Path Forward: Empowering Sovereign AI

Sovereign AI is a practical strategy for countries to safeguard their data, support local innovation, and maintain control over AI technology aligned with their values. ASUS and Taiwan AI Cloud bring experience, clear methodologies, and comprehensive services to help nations build secure, resilient AI capabilities that serve their needs for the long term.

For IT professionals looking to deepen their AI expertise or explore AI infrastructure and development, resources and courses are available at Complete AI Training.