Artificial intelligence is reshaping the distribution of political, economic, and epistemic power at the global level. As AI systems become embedded in critical infrastructures, public administration, security, scientific research, and economic production, governance increasingly revolves around struggles over who has the authority to develop, regulate, control, and benefit from these technologies. AI is therefore not only an object of regulation but also a domain in which sovereignty is claimed, negotiated, and contested.
This panel explores the concept of "Sovereign Intelligence" as a framework for understanding the evolving power relations surrounding AI governance. It examines how states, technology firms, international organizations, standard-setting bodies, research communities, and civil society compete and cooperate to shape the institutions, norms, infrastructures, and knowledge underpinning the AI ecosystem. The panel seeks to move beyond purely legal or technical perspectives by analyzing AI governance as a political process characterized by conflicts over authority, strategic dependencies, and competing visions of the public interest.
We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions addressing topics including, but not limited to:
* AI sovereignty and digital sovereignty;
* Geopolitics of AI and technological competition;
* Public authority and private power in AI governance;
* AI infrastructures, compute, data, and strategic dependencies;
* International organizations and global AI governance;
* Standards, technical governance, and regulatory competition;
* AI and national security;
* Democracy, fundamental rights, and algorithmic power;
* Multistakeholder governance and alternative governance models;
* The political economy of foundation models and frontier AI;
* AI governance in the Global South;
* Comparative approaches to AI governance across political systems.
Bringing together scholars from political science, international relations, public policy, law, and science and technology studies, the panel aims to advance a broader understanding of how AI is transforming contemporary configurations of political authority and reshaping the future of sovereignty in the digital age.