# AI, Global Governance, and Digital Sovereignty

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.17481 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17481/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 100 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Oct 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [The Alignment Problem from a Deep Learning Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.00626/) (2022)
- [An Overview of Catastrophic AI Risks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.12001/) (2023)
- [Exploring Large Language Model based Intelligent Agents: Definitions, Methods, and Prospects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03428/) (2024)
- [A Survey on Context-Aware Multi-Agent Systems: Techniques, Challenges and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01968/) (2024)
- [Market Concentration Implications of Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.01550/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [AESP: A Human-Sovereign Economic Protocol for AI Agents with Privacy-Preserving Settlement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.00318/) (2026)
- [Explainable AI Systems Must Be Contestable: Here's How to Make It Happen](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.01662/) (2025)
- [Sovereign AI: Rethinking Autonomy in the Age of Global Interdependence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.15734/) (2025)
- [AI Workers, Geopolitics, and Algorithmic Collective Action](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.17331/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This essay examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming more integral to international affairs by affecting how global governors exert power and pursue digital sovereignty. We first introduce a taxonomy of multifaceted AI payoffs for governments and corporations related to instrumental, structural, and discursive power in the domains of violence, markets, and rights. We next leverage different institutional and practice perspectives on sovereignty to assess how digital sovereignty is variously implicated in AI-empowered global governance. States both seek sovereign control over AI infrastructures in the institutional approach, while establishing sovereign competence through AI infrastructures in the practice approach. Overall, we present the digital sovereignty stakes of AI as related to entanglements of public and private power. Rather than foreseeing technology companies as replacing states, we argue that AI systems will embed in global governance to create dueling dynamics of public/private cooperation and contestation. We conclude with sketching future directions for IR research on AI and global governance.