COMING IN JANUARY 2026

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We present a strategic framework for achieving mission-driven and modular AI sovereignty, a model designed to offer practical guidance for governments, defence institutions, and policymakers seeking to preserve legal authority, operational autonomy, and strategic freedom of action as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in critical national security infrastructure. This framework builds on the principles developed through Imperial’s Trusted AI Alliance and extends our earlier work on Sovereign AI and National AI Policy (2025) into the specific demands of the defence and security domain.

While the United Kingdom and its Ministry of Defence (MOD) are used as illustrative case studies, the frameworks and posture model outlined in this paper are globally relevant, applicable to any state facing the accelerating convergence of digital automation, strategic decision-making, and sovereign command responsibility.

This project was conducted in consultation with the UK Ministry of Defence.

We examine the escalating energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) as its adoption and complexity expand rapidly, posing significant challenges for global energy systems. As AI technologies evolve, the energy required to power data centers and computational processes places increasing pressure on aging power grids, threatening reliability and sustainability. Despite incremental improvements in AI efficiency, the energy consumption associated with training and deploying AI models is projected to rise significantly, with AI data centers alone consuming a substantial share of global electricity by 2030. Our analysis included assessing the AI readiness of 25 countries using a proprietary methodology. We have provided a dimensionalised scan across these nations.

In this white paper, we highlight the critical need for investments in renewable energy, grid modernisation, and energy-efficient technologies to ensure sustainable AI development. We emphasize the strategic importance of addressing these energy challenges to avoid disruptions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels (and explore further adoption of ‘clean’ technologies like nuclear), and promote equitable access to AI's benefits. Our findings underscore the urgency for a collaborative effort among policymakers, industry leaders, and energy providers to align AI growth with sustainable energy solutions, ensuring a resilient and equitable technological future.

This project was made possible in part with support from Payments Network Malaysia.

Sovereign AI, where countries create and manage their own AI systems, is gaining traction globally. Sovereign AI initiatives are under way in domiciles (or regional authorities within countries) including UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany, France, Denmark, India, KSA, UAE, PRC and others. Countries must balance the significant financial and technological investments that may be required with other national priorities. Options for nation-states, supranational federals (e.g., EU) and international alliances (e.g., ASEAN) include building sovereign AI, collaborating regionally, and leveraging open-source initiatives.

Sovereign AI will participate in the broader structural shifts that AI is introducing globally, not only to economic and business structures, but in fundamental ways that people interact with each other, with companies, and with governments.

Download our whitepaper and access more resources at our knowledge center housed at sovereign-ai.org.

This project was made possible in part with support from Payments Network Malaysia.