New research from Nscale reveals almost 50% of UK, France and Norwegian decision-makers see sovereign AI infrastructure as a major competitive differentiator by 2027, with European cloud providers trusted more than their US counterparts
London, UK – June 5, 2025: Nscale, the European hyperscaler engineered for AI, today released new research revealing a clear and growing consensus among UK, French and Norwegian business leaders that sovereign AI infrastructure is essential for the secure and compliant deployment of AI workloads.
The study found that 74% of decision-makers are very or somewhat concerned about the impact of non-EU data laws, such as the US PATRIOT Act, on the control and confidentiality of their AI systems and data. These concerns are more pronounced in the UK, with 81% of UK decision-makers expressing concern, compared to 69% in France and 68% in Norway.
These concerns are driven by specific risks: potential compliance issues with EU data protection regulations, including GDPR and the EU AI Act (70%), exposure to foreign data access under laws like the US PATRIOT Act (67%), and intellectual property risks due to overseas hosting or model training (67%). These risks are making organisations in the UK, France and Norway carefully consider who they trust to handle their AI infrastructure.
Heightened trust in European providers reflects sovereignty priorities
Reflecting these concerns, trust in infrastructure providers is mixed but leans towards European players. European sovereign cloud providers are completely trusted by almost 4 in 10 (38%) of respondents, while only one third (32%) trust US-based cloud service providers (CSPs) to this extent. In-house and on-premise solutions top the trust scale with 44% having “complete trust” in them, demonstrating the premium organisations place on direct control and regulatory alignment.
This variation in trust levels reinforces why 49% of decision-makers view sovereign AI infrastructure as a major competitive differentiator over the next two years, offering compliance and greater trust but also a competitive advantage when it comes to market positioning. In Norway, 52% of decision-makers view sovereign AI infrastructure as a competitive advantage, compared to 50% in the UK and 46% in France.
When choosing an AI infrastructure partner, over 90% of respondents rate performance and speed, security, data sovereignty, and cost-effectiveness as key priorities. However, what drives those choices varies across roles:
- AI start-up C-suites emphasise security (96%), data sovereignty (96%), and performance (94%).
- Enterprise C-suites prioritise customer support (90%), scalability (89%), and cost effectiveness (89%).
- IT directors focus on transparency (96%), security (96%), and scalability (96%).
- AI and ML developers and engineers highlight security (95%), performance (92%), and cost (92%).
- Risk and compliance leaders rate security (91%), performance (90%), and scalability highly (90%).
Perception gaps highlight need for internal alignment
Despite broad agreement on the importance of sovereignty, the research reveals a notable gap in perception within organisations. Among IT directors and managers, 57% identify sovereignty as strategically significant, followed by 50% of AI start-up C-suites. Yet this sentiment dips slightly among enterprise C-suites (45%), AI developers and engineers (46%), and risk and compliance managers (45%). This divergence underscores the need for increased internal dialogue to better align strategic goals with technical perspectives around the benefits and perceived risks of sovereign AI infrastructure.
Perceptions of transparency around data processing also vary. Almost half (48%) of respondents say their cloud or AI infrastructure provider is very transparent. Confidence is highest among enterprise IT directors and managers (95%), reflecting their operational roles, and strong among start-up C-suites (92%). Yet, 9% of enterprise developers remain sceptical about provider transparency.
Client expectations are another driver behind the shift to sovereignty: nearly half (48%) of organisations report strong demand from their customers and partners for AI systems to be hosted on sovereign infrastructure. This signals a clear market move toward sovereign solutions as an imperative for not only compliance but also brand reputation and trustworthiness.
Karl Havard, Chief Commercial Officer at Nscale, said:
"Sovereignty is often misunderstood and frequently reduced down to a discussion about where data is stored. Yet true sovereignty encompasses full ownership, operational control, regulatory compliance, and transparency throughout the entire AI infrastructure stack.
“Importantly, sovereignty also ensures that the value generated by AI remains within the communities and countries where the infrastructure and AI talent resides, supporting local economies and innovation ecosystems.
“As AI takes centre stage in business strategy, this research highlights the extent to which sovereignty has moved beyond compliance. It’s becoming a cornerstone of trust, resilience, and sustained innovation. While US Big Tech companies continue to expand their presence across Europe’s AI landscape, European providers must elevate their offerings to deliver truly sovereign, transparent, and future-ready infrastructure that safeguards sensitive data and intellectual property in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment.”
Methodology
The research, conducted by Censuswide between 16-29 May 2025, surveyed 1,250 senior AI decision makers from AI start-ups and scale-ups that have been operational for up to five years, and enterprises with 500 or more employees across the UK, France and Norway – including 500 respondents from the UK, 500 respondents from France, and 250 respondents from Norway.
About Nscale
Nscale is the European hyperscaler engineered for AI, delivering compute to the generative AI market at scale. Through its fully vertically integrated suite of AI services and compute - across its 60MW renewable energy-powered data centre in Norway and a pipeline of over 1.3GW of greenfield data centres across Europe and North America - Nscale enables customers to run efficient and scalable AI training, fine-tuning, and inferencing workloads.
Contact
The Hoffman Agency for Nscale UK
NscaleEU@hoffman.com
