The geopolitics of AI and the rise of digital sovereignty

On September 29, 2021, the United States and the European Union's (EU) new Trade and Technology Council (TTC) held their first summit. It took place in the old industrial city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, under the leadership of the European Commission's Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Following the meeting, the U.S. and the EU declared their opposition to artificial intelligence (AI) that does not respect human rights and referenced rights-infringing systems, such as social scoring systems.1 During the meeting, the TTC clarified that "The United States and European Union have significant concerns that authoritarian governments are piloting social scoring systems with an aim to implement social control at scale. These systems pose threats to fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, including through silencing speech, punishing peaceful assembly and other expressive activities, and reinforcing arbitrary or unlawful surveillance systems."2 The implicit target of the criticism was China's "social credit" system, a big data system that uses a wide variety of data inputs to assess a person's social credit score, which determines social permissions in society, such as buying an air or train ticket.3 The critique by the TTC indicates that the U.S. and the EU disagree with China's view of how authorities should manage the use of AI and data in society.4