At the UN AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Microsoft’s chief responsible AI officer, Natasha Crampton, offered a nuanced take on a concept that has gained traction across Europe and beyond: AI sovereignty. Rather than a call for autarky, she argued, it should be about ensuring local cultures, values, and norms are embedded in AI systems while still leveraging global technology.
“AI sovereignty doesn’t mean doing it alone,” Crampton told European Pulse. “It’s about making sure that local impact, local cultures, values, and norms are prioritised in these systems, while taking advantage of global technology where possible.”
The debate has intensified since the Trump administration briefly forced Anthropic to bar non-US citizens from using its most advanced models, a move that was partially reversed. For many European policymakers, the episode underscored the risks of relying on non-European AI infrastructure. Yet Crampton warned against a zero-sum approach.
Bridging the AI Divide
Crampton, a former member of the UN’s High-Level Advisory Body on AI, stressed that the digital divide between the Global North and South is widening. “We cannot let the digital divide become an even greater AI divide,” she said. To counter this, Microsoft is backing initiatives like the Lingua project, which started in Europe and has expanded to Africa in partnership with the Gates Foundation. The project collects local-language data so foundational AI models can grasp idiomatic phrasing and cultural nuances, giving communities the autonomy to shape their own AI futures.
She also highlighted the need for stronger links between governments, the private sector, and international bodies. The UN’s first Global Dialogue on AI Governance, held in early July, aims to ensure that governance reflects the priorities of all nations. “One really important thing to bed down in the course of the next year is really the connective tissue between these different mechanisms,” Crampton said, referring to the new UN dialogue and panel. “Creating this connectivity between the different pieces of this infrastructure and understanding what everyone's unique role is so that we can make faster progress that's not duplicative or redundant is a key objective.”
A concrete example is the “digital emblem,” a partnership between Microsoft, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International Telecommunications Union. The emblem would act as a legal shield to protect hospitals and aid workers from cyberattacks, as communication tools, logistics platforms, and data centre infrastructure come under increasing threat. Microsoft is urging governments to back the emblem in policy and tech companies to build it into existing tools.
Community-First Data Centres
Addressing backlash over the environmental and economic footprint of AI infrastructure, Crampton emphasised a shift toward a “community-first” approach. “We want to be good neighbours. We want to be good members of the community when we're building this infrastructure,” she said. Instead of seeking traditional corporate tax breaks, Microsoft is working to expand local tax bases to fund public services like schools and infrastructure. The company is also managing resource consumption to avoid driving up local electricity rates or draining water supplies, using closed-loop cooling systems.
This matters for Europe, where data centre expansion has sparked local resistance in countries like Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany. The European AI Office, based in Brussels, is already coordinating with AI safety institutes in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Crampton praised that effort: “I do think that type of international connectivity, which I do see the AI office really investing in, is a really important thing to do because while we are rapidly maturing the state of the art on testing science, having that international signal and being prepared to mature an approach given new information is really important.”
She also urged regulators to remain flexible. “We need regulatory regimes to adapt alongside and with that change and ideally reduce the lag that we sometimes see between what society expects of regulators, where the technology is at and where the regulation is sitting,” she said. That message resonates in Brussels, where the EU’s AI Act is being implemented amid rapid technological shifts.
For Europe, the challenge is to balance sovereignty with openness. As former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has argued, national sovereignty can be a “gift” to the US and China if it fragments the EU. Crampton’s vision suggests a middle path: using global technology while ensuring local control over values and impact.
