G42 introduces unique model to make AI sovereignty portable

G42 has launched a new sovereign operating model that enables nations to deploy artificial intelligence securely and at scale, while maintaining full legal authority and control over their data, systems, and policies irrespective of infrastructure location.

The model, called the ‘Digital Embassies framework and Greenshield,’ helps governments that face a growing gap between their ambitions and infrastructure readiness. Domestic sovereign cloud and data centre buildouts can take years, while legal, regulatory, and security obligations apply from day one.

Digital Embassies and Greenshield are designed to close that gap.

At its core, the model 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 and enforceable across agreed Digital Embassy environments, rather than being constrained by physical location. This allows governments to deploy AI now, without locking themselves into premature or inflexible infrastructure decisions.

Omran Sharaf, Assistant Foreign Minister for Advanced Science and Technology, said: “Our vision is that every government, regardless of size or geography, can operationalise its digital and AI strategy with full sovereign control over its data, systems, and policies, from day one.

“Digital Embassies and Greenshield define a new era of governance where law and infrastructure are not in tension, but in alignment, enabling trusted AI at scale, even when infrastructure is hosted across borders.”

Governing data beyond borders

The Digital Embassies framework establishes government-to-government legal constructs that define jurisdiction, authority, and sovereign rights upfront. These frameworks ensure that national laws govern data and systems, even when infrastructure is hosted or operated beyond a country’s physical borders.

Greenshield is the operational layer implemented by Core42, G42’s digital infrastructure arm, that translates sovereign policy into execution. It applies consistent sovereign controls across environments, governing identity and access, data handling, security, compliance, auditability, and continuity.

Ali Al Amine, Chief Commercial Officer of G42 International, added: “Governments are clear on their sovereignty responsibilities, but they need practical ways to deploy AI today. Digital Embassies and Greenshield provide that path. They allow nations to enforce their laws and policies from day one, while preserving flexibility over how and where infrastructure evolves over time.”

With Greenshield, sovereignty remains intact even as workloads move across different cloud and infrastructure configurations, ensuring control is preserved as systems scale and evolve.

Talal Al Kaissi, Interim CEO of Core42 and Group Chief Global Affairs Officer at G42, explained: “Greenshield is implemented through Core42’s heterogeneous AI Cloud, a mesh of sovereign compute and cloud environments already deployed across multiple geographies, including sovereign AI clusters in North America, Europe and the UAE.

“When coupled with the government-to-government agreements, Greenshield introduces technical and policy controls that enable governments to run accelerated AI workloads with sovereign controls regardless of where the infrastructure is located.”

Powering sovereign AI through partnership

The implementation of the framework is supported by G42’s strategic partnership with Microsoft, leveraging global cloud platforms and services where appropriate. It also complements ongoing major infrastructure initiatives such as the UAE’s 5GW AI campus, whose strategic design positions it to serve roughly half the world’s population within a 3,200 km radius with sub-60ms latency, a critical sovereign AI backbone that can work in tandem with Digital Embassies and Greenshield to deliver resilient, high-performance services across regions.

Historically, digital sovereignty depended on physical location. Data was considered sovereign because it was stored locally, and control required local infrastructure. Digital Embassies introduce a shift: sovereignty is treated as a legal and operational status that can be enforced consistently, even as infrastructure becomes more distributed.

This approach reduces the need for heavy upfront investment, accelerates national AI strategies, and provides a resilient path for countries seeking strong sovereign protections without waiting years for infrastructure buildouts to complete.