Israel faces sovereignty threat from foreign AI control, AI chief warns
Israel's AI chief Erez Askal has warned that the nation risks losing sovereignty over critical infrastructure if it relies on foreign AI providers. He advocates for the development of domestic AI capabilities and data centers to ensure national independence in sectors like water, electricity, and healthcare.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing geopolitical tension surrounding the control of AI infrastructure and the strategic importance of technological self-reliance.
Israel and other countries will lose large aspects of their sovereignty to foreign companies within five to seven years if they do not have plans in place to control the integration of artificial intelligence into their infrastructure, the nation's AI chief Erez Askal said on Monday,Speaking at the AI Week 2026 conference at Tel Aviv University, Askal warned that in the near future electricity, water, healthcare, and other sectors would be run by AI.If the Israeli state outsources that AI to foreign multinational companies, and many of the players in AI globally are in the United States, China, and elsewhere overseas, it could lose control of basic services critical to keeping the country running in the midst of a complex geopolitical crisis, since it will be dependent on overseas companies.Instead, he said Israel must dash forward to develop its own AI capabilities and data centers to support those capabilities so…
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