Nairobi, July 26 -- For the first wave of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the past four years, businesses had a relatively simple formula: subscribe to OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot or Google's Gemini, upload large volumes of data, automate repetitive tasks and move on.

But as AI becomes embedded in core business operations such as market research, customer relationship management and logistics, some firms are increasingly questioning who controls the intelligence behind the technology.

Increasingly, these companies are deciding that relying entirely on external AI providers may not be enough. Instead, they are investing in what technology executives call 'sovereign AI'. This is building or deploying AI systems in a way...