Last week, Clara Chappaz, France’s digital and AI minister, declared that it’s time for Europe to end its dependence on U.S. tech giants. Extending President Macron’s now well-known metaphor of “carnivores and herbivores” in geopolitics, she called on Europe to “hunt as a pack” in defence of its digital future, calling for united action to challenge U.S. dominance in critical sectors such as cloud and AI.

For decades, Europe has leaned heavily on U.S.-based cloud providers. That reliance made sense at the time: the American tech industry was first out of the gate, building globally scalable infrastructure and shaping the standards we use today. But times have changed, and with that change comes an opportunity, and a responsibility, to reassess how we manage and secure Europe’s digital future.

Sovereignty in an uncertain world

From data privacy to economic autonomy, the ability to control our digital environment has never been more critical. As AI adoption accelerates, so does the concern around the use of European data to train models that aren’t governed by local laws or aligned with local values. In an age of growing geopolitical uncertainty, digital sovereignty has become a foundational pillar of resilience.

What is data sovereignty, really?

At its core, digital sovereignty is about having full control over your digital infrastructure – where data is stored, how it’s processed, and who has access to it. It means local laws, not foreign jurisdictions, govern the technologies that power our economies. It means businesses and governments can be confident that their data, algorithms, and critical systems are secure within national or regional borders and not subject to disruption, interference, or policy shifts from abroad.

This matters now more than ever. U.S. tech giants don’t just operate the servers that hold our data, they’re increasingly shaping the AI models, algorithms, and platforms we rely on every day. Many of these hyperscalers store data in facilities around the world, yet remain subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act – legislation that allows American authorities to access data, regardless of where it’s hosted. And when those same firms train AI models on European data, the lines between control and compliance become even blurrier.

Sovereignty needs a clear strategy

The UK government’s stance on sovereignty is anything but clear-cut. Its AI Opportunity Action Plan, announced earlier this year, outlines the creation of AI Growth Zones, designed to attract investment in domestic AI and data infrastructure, whilst streamlining the planning of new sovereign data centres. However, at the same time, the UK has also welcomed significant investment from foreign hyperscalers to build and operate data centres on British soil, raising questions about how much control the country truly retains over its digital backbone. This somewhat contradictory approach reveals the ongoing struggle between building short-term capacity and committing to long-term digital independence.

We need to go further. It’s not enough for sovereign cloud to remain a mere policy talking point. Europe needs to build a clear, actionable framework that ensures sovereign cloud becomes a practical reality – one that’s backed by long-term investment, enforceable standards, and consistent implementation across regions.

That means moving beyond pilot projects and fragmented national strategies. It means aligning on shared goals for data governance, interoperability, and transparency, so that businesses and governments alike can rely on trusted, locally operated infrastructure.

A chance to rewrite the rules

For too long, European cloud users have operated in an ecosystem dominated by a handful of large, US-based hyperscalers, where high cloud credits, hidden egress fees, and opaque pricing structures have limited choice and stifled competition. A sovereign European cloud, built by domestic providers, has the potential to rewrite the rules. It can foster fairness, transparency, and innovation, giving customers more freedom to choose the services that best suit their needs.

Sovereign cloud initiatives, backed by funding and policy support, would not only boost local technology sectors but also send a clear message: Europe is ready to chart its own path. That doesn’t mean cutting ties or closing doors. A digitally sovereign Europe can still maintain strong, collaborative relationships with global partners, including the U.S., while ensuring its infrastructure is resilient, secure, and aligned with its own values.

Introducing relaxAI: A sovereign alternative

At Civo, we believe in giving organisations back control – not just of their infrastructure, but of their data, models, and AI workloads. That’s why we built relaxAI, a sovereign AI assistant that puts privacy, transparency, and freedom of choice at its core.

relaxAI is open-source, fully auditable, and designed to run in sovereign environments. It allows businesses to deploy AI on their own terms without having to feed their data into black-box models or worry about where their inputs and outputs are being stored or monetised. It launched in the UK earlier this year and has just expanded to India, marking the start of a global push to offer more secure, sovereign AI alternatives.

Sovereignty isn’t about looking inward. It’s about building strong foundations so Europe, and the world, can engage globally, from a position of strength and trust.