Microsoft’s AI deal promises digital sovereignty for Canada, but is that a promise the country can keep?

In the past year, few words have been more abused than “sovereignty,” particularly in the context of Canadian digital policy and artificial intelligence. In early December, Microsoft pledged to invest more than $7.5 billion over the next two years to build “new digital and AI infrastructure” in Canada. Behind this investment is the promise to defend Canada’s digital sovereignty.

Framing the investment in terms of protecting Canadian sovereignty is no coincidence. Politically, countries are increasingly concerned that U.S.-based technology companies are facing pressure from President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian administration to hand over foreign citizens’ data, trade secrets, emails and any activity or metadata generated on their systems to the U.S. government.

If you’re wondering how a U.S. company’s investments in essential digital infrastructure can help protect Canadian sovereignty, you’re not…