A new CNAS Insight argues that the success of the U.S. American AI Exports Program will depend not only on exporting American AI technology, tools, and infrastructure worldwide, but also on addressing the growing global demand for AI sovereignty — the desire of nations to develop, deploy, and govern AI on their own terms. The authors, Ruby Scanlon and Vivek Chilukuri, warn that many countries are less interested in accepting Washington’s definition of AI sovereignty than in shaping their own, and that U.S. strategy must respond to this reality if it hopes to lead in global AI markets and standards.
The article proposes that a credible American response should rest on four commitments: security, resilience, openness, and partnership. In this view, the United States should offer privacy-enhancing and confidential-computing solutions for sensitive data, promote resilient rather than overly localized infrastructure, include carefully evaluated open-weight models for sovereignty-sensitive markets, and work with credible local partners rather than treating other nations as passive consumers of American AI. The broader message is clear: if America wants to shape the global AI order, it must offer not only technological strength, but also a sovereignty-aware model of cooperation.
This argument also resonates with the vision of AIWS. In the AIWS perspective, the future of AI cannot be built on technological dominance alone; it must be grounded in trust, responsibility, partnership, and respect for the legitimate aspirations of nations. A durable AI order will require not only powerful systems, but also frameworks that allow countries to participate with dignity, build their own capacity, and align AI development with their social values and national priorities. In that sense, the CNAS insight points toward a larger principle also central to AIWS: leadership in the AI Age will depend not only on exporting technology, but on building a trusted and cooperative architecture for humanity.
