Digital embassies offer an emerging model that allows nations to extend sovereign digital infrastructure beyond their borders while maintaining control over data, compute and governance. However, establishing such arrangements requires political alignment, legal clarity and robust technical and operational safeguards. The Digital Embassy Framework, spearheaded by the World Economic Forum and co-developed with stakeholders, will provide a shared baseline for designing, governing and operating trusted digital embassies worldwide.

This is the full audio from a session at the Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos. Watch it here: https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2026/sessions/digital-embassies-for-sovereign-ai/

Speakers:

Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital, Malaysia Government

Cathy Li, Head, Centre for AI Excellence; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, State Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland

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Digital Embassies for Sovereign AI