Artificial Intelligence, Foreign Investment And Technology Sovereignty: Emerging Challenges For Developing Countries
Ayushi Maggu, Amity Law School, Noida, Amity University
ABSTRACT
Foreign investment can finance artificial intelligence infrastructure and widen access to advanced services, while leaving developing countries dependent on external suppliers for computing, models and technical decisions. This paper examines how investment governance can address that tension without treating technological self-sufficiency as a realistic universal objective. Using a doctrinal and comparative method, it analyses selected trade and intellectual property rules, European regulatory instruments, judicial principles on privacy, India’s AI capacity programme and the African Union’s continental strategy. The central argument is that technology sovereignty should be assessed through effective regulatory authority, domestic capacity and the practical ability to change suppliers. Investment approval, local data storage and national ownership do not independently establish those conditions. The paper proposes proportionate screening, negotiated capability development, enforceable procurement safeguards and regional cooperation. These measures should connect investment incentives with demonstrable public benefits while protecting individual rights and preserving lawful international collaboration.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Foreign Investment; Technology Sovereignty; Developing Countries; Technology Transfer; Data Governance.
