Technological Sovereignity, Big Tech and the Military-Digital complex

This article reassesses the concept of technological sovereignty and its policy implications in light of the close relationships between US- and China-based digital monopolies (i.e., Big Tech) and their respective military apparatuses. First, we empirically examine the growing influence of the private sector in R&D activities, the increasing centrality of digital technologies within sectoral and technological hierarchies, the emergence of Big Tech firms and their dominance over knowledge, infrastructures, and key technologies such as cloud computing and AI. Second, building on Coveri et al. (2025a), we analyse the mutual dependence between Big Tech and the military apparatus, showing how it reinforces the economic power of the private actors involved, weakens the state’s capacity to act autonomously, and intensifies the subordination of foreign governments dependent on US and Chinese digital platforms. Third, we propose a typology of technological sovereignty that takes into account the degree of technological dependence on Big Tech, the nature of the relationship between states and digital companies, and, consequently, the state’s capacity to align the activities of these companies with its own strategic objectives.