Seoul: Sovereign AI, global resilience dominate agenda at World Knowledge Forum

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a central element of national security, with experts warning that powerful nations equipped with advanced AI infrastructure could weaponize the technology to pressure countries with weaker capabilities.

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At the 26th World Knowledge Forum (WKF) in Seoul, leaders stressed the growing importance of "Sovereign AI," a framework where nations independently develop, control, and operate AI systems, including data and computing infrastructure, within their own borders.

Martin Kon, former president and chief operating officer of Canadian AI firm Cohere, explained that Sovereign AI extends beyond geographic borders. "It means having sovereignty within one's own data environment," he said, emphasizing that sensitive information, such as national security data, should not be stored on foreign servers.

Cohere, an AI startup specializing in enterprise-scale large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, has collaborated with Korean companies, including co-developing an inference-based LLM with LG CNS.