The Imperial Power of the Digital Age: Data Colonialism and Artificial Intelligence

Power in the artificial intelligence ecosystem is measured not merely by market share, but by influence over knowledge, ethics and politics.

The article argues that colonial extraction, once directed at raw materials, now targets human cognition, language, culture and behavioral data.

When local knowledge is stripped of context, it becomes a resource that global platforms can process and monetize.

Claims of sovereign artificial intelligence remain incomplete while chips and cloud infrastructure depend on foreign suppliers.

Genuine digital sovereignty therefore requires an integrated strategy spanning critical minerals, semiconductors, data, models, energy and infrastructure.