Published on 12/10/2025 by Alexandra SCHERRER
Last updated : 12/16/2025
Introduction : Cloud Enters the Era of Algorithmic Sovereignty
For more than a decade, the cloud was mainly seen as a lever for performance and cost reduction.
But the massive arrival of generative AI, the multiplication of cyber-threats, and new European regulatory obligations mark the end of this simplified vision.
The cloud is now becoming a trusted infrastructure, just like energy or financial systems.
It must guarantee :
- data control,
- algorithmic transparency,
- operational resilience,
- strategic independence.
For European companies, this evolution requires a deep shift : moving from an opportunistic cloud to a governed cloud.
1. AI turns the cloud into a new form of structural dependency
One of the major shifts of 2024–2025 is the rise of generative AI and autonomous models.
Yet almost all these technologies rely on platforms operated by three American players.
This situation creates a double dependency :
A. Technological dependency
Compute power, GPU accelerators, training pipelines, orchestrators : the critical building blocks are not European.
B. Algorithmic dependency
AI models are trained, optimized, and updated outside Europe, according to rules and priorities that are not those of the European market.
This dependency is not only a matter of sovereignty ; it creates an economic risk : companies that do not control the infrastructure behind their AI models do not control their own innovation.
2. Security is no longer enough : welcome to operational integrity
Cyberattacks have intensified, but another type of risk now worries executives : the systemic reliability of the global cloud.
In 2024 and 2025, several major outages revealed that :
- non-critical services can impact critical services due to network effects,
- a configuration error at a hyperscaler can shut down thousands of companies,
- global infrastructure concentration creates a systemic risk similar to the banking sector.
What companies now seek is no longer just security, but operational integrity based on three elements :
- Predictability
- Controlled localization
- Decision-making independence
In other words : resilience that does not depend on actors outside the European Union.
3. European regulation redefines the cloud framework
Three texts deeply reshape companies’ digital architecture :
A. Reinforced GDPR
It imposes continuous responsibility: localization, minimization, auditability.
B. NIS2
It expands cybersecurity obligations to entire sectors, which must now demonstrate the resilience of their cloud providers.
C. AI Act
It introduces an emerging notion : algorithmic sovereignty, meaning the ability to understand, control, and supervise the AI models used.
These requirements push companies towards a cloud that is :
- European,
- transparent,
- auditable,
- interoperable.
This is a major change : the cloud is no longer a neutral space but a regulated infrastructure.
4. Trusted cloud : a new category of infrastructure
Facing these transformations, a new notion emerges : the trusted cloud.
This is not a marketing label, but a model based on four pillars :
1. Data control
European location, no dependence on the Cloud Act, complete traceability.
2. Mastery of algorithms
Visibility on flows, explainability, model control, AI auditability.
3. Control of access
Zero Trust, advanced segmentation, continuous supervision.
4. Mastering resilience
Multi-site architecture, high availability, provable business continuity.
Introduction : Cloud Enters the Era of Algorithmic Sovereignty
For more than a decade, the cloud was mainly seen as a lever for performance and cost reduction.
But the massive arrival of generative AI, the multiplication of cyber-threats, and new European regulatory obligations mark the end of this simplified vision.
The cloud is now becoming a trusted infrastructure, just like energy or financial systems.
It must guarantee :
- data control,
- algorithmic transparency,
- operational resilience,
- strategic independence.
For European companies, this evolution requires a deep shift : moving from an opportunistic cloud to a governed cloud.
1. AI turns the cloud into a new form of structural dependency
One of the major shifts of 2024–2025 is the rise of generative AI and autonomous models.
Yet almost all these technologies rely on platforms operated by three American players.
This situation creates a double dependency :
A. Technological dependency
Compute power, GPU accelerators, training pipelines, orchestrators : the critical building blocks are not European.
B. Algorithmic dependency
AI models are trained, optimized, and updated outside Europe, according to rules and priorities that are not those of the European market.
This dependency is not only a matter of sovereignty ; it creates an economic risk : companies that do not control the infrastructure behind their AI models do not control their own innovation.
2. Security is no longer enough : welcome to operational integrity
Cyberattacks have intensified, but another type of risk now worries executives : the systemic reliability of the global cloud.
In 2024 and 2025, several major outages revealed that :
- non-critical services can impact critical services due to network effects,
- a configuration error at a hyperscaler can shut down thousands of companies,
- global infrastructure concentration creates a systemic risk similar to the banking sector.
What companies now seek is no longer just security, but operational integrity based on three elements :
- Predictability
- Controlled localization
- Decision-making independence
In other words : resilience that does not depend on actors outside the European Union.
3. European regulation redefines the cloud framework
Three texts deeply reshape companies’ digital architecture :
A. Reinforced GDPR
It imposes continuous responsibility: localization, minimization, auditability.
B. NIS2
It expands cybersecurity obligations to entire sectors, which must now demonstrate the resilience of their cloud providers.
C. AI Act
It introduces an emerging notion : algorithmic sovereignty, meaning the ability to understand, control, and supervise the AI models used.
These requirements push companies towards a cloud that is :
- European,
- transparent,
- auditable,
- interoperable.
This is a major change : the cloud is no longer a neutral space but a regulated infrastructure.
4. Trusted cloud : a new category of infrastructure
Facing these transformations, a new notion emerges : the trusted cloud.
This is not a marketing label, but a model based on four pillars :
1. Data control
European location, no dependence on the Cloud Act, complete traceability.
2. Mastery of algorithms
Visibility on flows, explainability, model control, AI auditability.
3. Control of access
Zero Trust, advanced segmentation, continuous supervision.
4. Mastering resilience
Multi-site architecture, high availability, provable business continuity.
This model is particularly suited to European companies that must combine innovation with strict regulatory constraints.
5. Why companies must revise their cloud architectures
In most organizations, cloud adoption has been progressive, sometimes fragmented, often opportunistic.
The rise of AI and sovereignty issues makes this model insufficient.
Companies must now reassess :
- where their data is stored,
- where their AI models are trained,
- who controls updates,
- who can access encryption keys,
- which jurisdictions can enforce an interruption.
This change involves two simultaneous movements :
A. Reducing dependency on non-European infrastructures
Reducing dependency does not mean completely abandoning hyperscaler services, but rather a strategic reconfiguration.
Today, many critical workloads, support operations, and even AI pipelines rely on providers that :
- are not subject to European law,
- may face extraterritorial injunctions,
- concentrate the risk of large-scale outages,
- impose economic and technical models that are difficult to audit.
Reducing this dependency involves :
- identifying truly critical services,
- isolating sensitive components,
- reviewing AI and storage processing chains,
- requalifying workloads that must remain under European control,
- integrating a continuity architecture not dependent on a single global player.
This approach is mainly about control and resilience : a company relying exclusively on non-European platforms exposes its operational chain to risks that are no longer acceptable by 2026.
B. Strengthening sovereign environments for critical data, sensitive AI processing, and strategic services
The second movement is to give more weight to European and auditable sovereign environments able to host :
- strategic data (financial, industrial, health, customer…),
- sensitive AI models,
- business-critical components,
- regulated services (NIS2, DORA, HDS…),
- encryption keys and identity mechanisms.
Strengthening these environments does not mean complicating architectures, but simplifying them around a trusted foundation ensuring :
- increased resilience,
- total legal independence,
- transparency of processing,
- algorithmic sovereignty,
- controlled interoperability.
Thus, companies can build an intelligent hybrid model where sovereign cloud becomes the center of gravity of the digital strategy — not just an alternative.
This shift is already underway in many sectors (finance, health, industry, digital services) and is becoming essential as AI and regulatory requirements intensify.
6. UNIVIRTUAL’s approach : a sovereign cloud designed for this new era
While companies are now discovering these issues, UNIVIRTUAL has been addressing them for more than 25 years.
The company operates a sovereign cloud based :
- in France and Switzerland,
- in Tier IV data centers certified ISO 27001 and HDS,
- with 100% European governance,
- integrated cybersecurity via Black Sentinel,
- sovereign multi-zone backup via Falcon Recovery.
This model is based on a simple conviction : innovation can only be sustainable if it is sovereign, transparent, and controlled.
UNIVIRTUAL supports organizations in implementing cloud infrastructures suited to AI requirements and new security and compliance obligations.
Conclusion : Towards a European cloud based on trust and control
AI, cybersecurity, regulation, and sovereignty are not separate trends: they now form a unified framework reshaping how companies must design their infrastructure.
The cloud of the next decade will be :
- sovereign,
- with native AI auditability,
- deeply cyber-secured,
- responsible in its uses,
- resilience-oriented.
Organizations that succeed in this transition will not only be compliant ; they will be more reliable, more competitive, and better prepared for an increasingly complex technological environment.
