Assessing Digital Sovereignty’s Impact on US Hyperscalers’ Expansion in Europe

Over the past years, European governments have developed digital sovereignty strategies in a bid to reduce their dependence on US technology companies and boost their competitiveness. In the European Union, this has resulted in progressive legislation –the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act, the AI Act, the Economic Security Strategy, the EU Cloud Certification Scheme, and more – which aim to reduce the market power of US tech giants while developing domestic alternatives. But are these “digital sovereignty” initiatives up to the task? Focusing on cloud infrastructures and US cloud hyperscalers, this study investigates the digital sovereignty agenda’s impact on hyperscalers’ expansion across the European continent. Drawing on data centre investments data and ‘text as data’ analysis on hyperscalers’ 10ks and earnings calls, as well as expert interviews, I analyse whether hyperscalers’ investment strategies have changed in response to digital sovereignty rules. Preliminary findings show that such rules have a limited impact on hyperscalers’ investments in the region owing to power asymmetries between hyperscalers and governments, as well as lack of coordination among European governments.