G42 Unveils a New Model That Makes AI Sovereignty Portable
A new sovereign operating model now lets countries deploy artificial intelligence securely and at scale. At the same time, it ensures governments keep full legal authority and control over data, systems, and policies even when infrastructure sits outside national borders.
However, many governments face a widening gap between AI ambitions and infrastructure readiness. Domestic sovereign cloud and data centre buildouts can take years. Meanwhile, legal, regulatory, and security obligations still apply from day one.
Therefore, the new model is designed to close that gap. It supports faster AI deployment without forcing governments into early or rigid infrastructure decisions.
Digital Embassies and Greenshield: how the model works
The model is built around the Digital Embassies framework and Greenshield. In simple terms, it treats sovereignty like a flag that travels with a workload. Much like a diplomatic mission carries legal authority beyond borders, this concept makes jurisdiction portable across agreed Digital Embassy environments rather than tied to physical location.
As a result, governments can deploy AI immediately while still enforcing national rules. Additionally, they can preserve flexibility as infrastructure evolves over time.
Governing across borders and enabling scale
The Digital Embassies framework establishes government-to-government legal constructs that define jurisdiction, authority, and sovereign rights upfront. Consequently, national laws can govern data and systems even when infrastructure is hosted or operated beyond a country’s physical borders.
Greenshield serves as the operational layer that translates sovereign policy into execution. It applies consistent sovereign controls across environments, including identity and access, data handling, security, compliance, auditability, and continuity.
With Greenshield, sovereignty stays intact as workloads move across different cloud and infrastructure configurations. In turn, control remains consistent as systems scale and change.
The model is also supported through a strategic partnership with Microsoft, using global cloud platforms and services when appropriate. Moreover, it complements major infrastructure initiatives such as the UAE’s 5GW AI campus, which is positioned to serve around half the world’s population within a 3,200 km radius with sub-60ms latency.
Historically, digital sovereignty depended on physical location. Data was considered sovereign because it stayed local, and control relied on local infrastructure. Now, Digital Embassies introduce a shift by treating sovereignty as a legal and operational status that can remain enforceable even as infrastructure becomes more distributed.
Because of this approach, governments can reduce heavy upfront investment while accelerating national AI plans. Ultimately, it offers a resilient path for countries seeking strong sovereign protections without waiting years for infrastructure buildouts to finish.
