35% of geographies globally, including India, will be locked into Region-Specific AI platforms by 2027: Gartner

Gartner forecast 35% of geographies globally, including India, will be locked into Region-Specific AI platforms using proprietary contextual data by year 2027.

Geopolitical, Regulatory, and Security pressures would spur governments to boost investment in independent, country-specific AI infrastructure, the Stamford-based analyst firm said.

“Countries with digital sovereignty goals are increasing investment in domestic AI stacks as they look for alternatives to the closed U.S. model, including computing power, data centers, infrastructure and models aligned with local laws, culture and region,” said Gaurav Gupta, VP Analyst at Gartner.

He further said, trust and cultural fit were emerging as key criteria. Decision makers were prioritising AI platforms that align with local values, regulatory frameworks, and user expectations over those with the largest training datasets.

Gartner also predicted that localised models would deliver more contextual value; and also regional LLMs would outperform global models in applications such as education, legal compliance, and public services, especially in non-English languages.

Nations will need to invest 1% of GDP in AI sovereignty by 2029

With non-Western customers changing alignment due to concerns of overly Western influence, AI sovereignty will lead to reduced collaboration and duplication of effort, according to Gartner. Because of this, it also forecast that nations establishing a sovereign AI stack would need to spend at least 1% of their GDP on AI infrastructure by 2029.

“AI sovereignty refers to the ability of a nation or organization to independently control how AI is developed, deployed, and used related to its geographical boundaries,’’ the firm stated.

Regulatory pressure, geopolitics, cloud localisation, national AI missions, corporate risks and national security concerns are driving governments and corporations to accelerate investments in sovereign AI, it further said adding, a fear of falling behind in the technological AI race would also push nations and companies to innovate rapidly and invest in an attempt to achieve self-sufficiency in all aspects of the AI stack.

“Data centers and AI factory infrastructure form the critical backbone of the AI stack that enables AI sovereignty, “ Mr. Gupta further said. “As a result, data centers and AI factory infrastructure will see explosive build-up and investment going forward, propelling a few companies that control the AI stack to achieve double-digit, trillion-dollar valuations.”