The era of artificial intelligence (AI) as a simple tool is over. Ultra-high-performance AIs such as..
https://www.mk.co.kr/en/columnists/12042628
Publish Date: 2026-05-10 03:41:00
Source Domain: www.mk.co.kr
사진 확대 Ko Jae-man, Director of Digital Tech
The era of artificial intelligence (AI) as a simple tool is over. Ultra-high-performance AIs such as Anthropic’s Claude Mitos are now in the ranks of national strategic assets such as nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers. An era has begun in which countries and companies have stronger AI models determine national competitiveness.
This trend reminds us of the imperial era of the 19th century. Just as powerful countries with steam engines and guns divided the world to establish a colonial order, a small number of countries and companies with powerful AI are now redesigning the global political, economic, and social order.
Karen Hao, a journalist who covers the impact of AI on society, saw the current competition for AI hegemony as a “reorganization of the modern colonial world order.” Just as imperialist powers made wealth by exploiting colonies in the past, big tech companies are now collecting (exploiting) data from all over the world for free and accumulating wealth through the dominance of algorithms. “If the war in the past was about taking away territory, the AI war is about taking over data and platforms and subordinating other countries’ mindsets and industrial ecosystems,” said Jungwoo Ha, a former senior presidential secretary for AI future planning who left after the gold badge, in his book “AI War 2.0. If AI sovereignty is lost, it could be reduced to a “digital colony” that mortgages the country’s future decision-making rights to foreign algorithms.”
Open AI, Anthropic in the U.S., and DeepSeek in China are at the forefront. Feeling a sense of crisis, the European Union (EU) is trying to counterattack by using Mistral, and countries have legislated ‘AI sovereignty’ to protect their data and their citizens’ information.
AI sovereignty is not just a matter of technology. Suppose that foreign AI, which excludes Korean language and culture, teaches…
