Definition
Cloud Act
A 2018 US law allowing American authorities to compel access to data held by US companies, wherever it is hosted in the world.
The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (Cloud Act), passed in 2018, lets US authorities compel any company under US jurisdiction to hand over data it holds or controls — including when that data sits in datacenters located in Europe.
The direct consequence for European companies: picking the 'Europe' hosting region with a US vendor (OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic…) does not legally protect the data. Only an operator outside US jurisdiction, or deployment on your own infrastructure, structurally removes that exposure.
Sovereign AI, in practice
Every AI model, deployed on your infrastructure, with your documents connected.