In recent years, the global conversation around cloud computing has shifted from a focus on technology to geopolitics. Data sovereignty, privacy, and control are now top concerns for enterprises outside the United States—especially across Europe, the UK, Asia, and Africa. Regulations and shifting political winds are prompting companies to reassess the risks of storing their data in the hands of foreign—most notably, American—companies.
It’s not just about where data resides, but who ultimately owns and controls the infrastructure. For example, after Brexit, the UK encouraged companies to keep sensitive data within the country’s borders, supporting local players like Ark Data Centres. Germany, with its historical wariness of external surveillance, is seeing big firms turn to companies such as Deutsche Telekom for cloud services. France has invested in “trusted cloud” initiatives to keep critical workloads within national reach. In India and China, strict localization rules mean foreign tech giants must partner with (or defer to) local operators. Meanwhile, rising African cloud infrastructure companies such as Liquid Intelligent Technologies further illustrate a desire for data autonomy.
Hyperscalers launch their own sovereign clouds
Faced with these pressures, US-headquartered hyperscalers are working to flip the narrative with new sovereign cloud offerings.
