Algorithmic Power, Supply Chains, and Sovereignty
May 1, 2026
Algorithmic authority is restructuring power through data supply chains and automation, precipitating mass layoffs in Chinese tech, deepening gender and narrative biases in finance and media, and triggering jurisdictional battles over tech giants that expose the limits of digital sovereignty amid global hedging. Counter-hegemonic forces are mobilizing across critical infrastructures: La Via Campesina links extreme heat to the collapse of food sovereignty, journalists fight for contractual guardrails against algorithmic enclosure, and rights-based advocates demand AI governance grounded in human dignity and marginalized epistemic traditions rather than the homogenizing logic of corporate-state control.
-
BRIEF
The Chinese lesson on the human rights approach to AI
The core of the human rights approach to AI should aim at rebalancing the power among the corporate-state, the machine and the people through a decision-making framework.
- geopolitics
- media and technology
-
BRIEF
World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns
Morgan Ody, a small-scale farmer and the general coordinator of La Via Campesina, a global organisation of food and land workers and small farmers, said the lives of working people were increasingly at risk. The post World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns appeared first o…
- food sovereignty
-
BRIEF
For What AI Could Do to Democracies, Look to the Petrostates
Societies will become richer, but history suggests that wealth may not be equally distributed.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
Responsible AI Starts with the Data Supply Chain
The post Responsible AI Starts with the Data Supply Chain appeared first on Partnership on AI.
- AI governance
-
BRIEF
Hedging Is the New Normal
For the foreseeable future, successful statecraft will depend on hedging.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
I got stood up by an AI agent, and tracked down its human owner in China
A solo entrepreneur is paying a quarter of his salary to let AI agents run his side-hustle app. He recently realized his "employees" have been keeping secrets.
- AI governance
- media and technology
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
Before the algorithm decides: Queer storytelling as resistance in Nigeria
The stories that are publicly available and widely circulated are the ones most likely to be captured in the datasets that train AI systems.
- geopolitics
- media and technology
-
BRIEF
Fighting the Machine
Journalists across the United States are fighting for contracts that address AI use: “We don’t want it to be done in our name, literally.”
- media and technology
- structural power
-
BRIEF
How to actually protect against digital sexualized violence
AlgorithmWatch has put forward recommendations on how to implement a ban of deepfakes in the AI Act as part of the AI Omnibus procedure. To effectively protect victims of digital sexualized violence, AI companies, platforms, and perpetrators must consistently be held accountable.
- AI governance
- structural power
- media and technology
-
BRIEF
Coupang probe tests the U.S.’s willingness to protect its tech giants abroad
A massive data breach at South Korea’s biggest online retailer, which is registered and listed in the U.S., has both countries claiming the right to act.
- AI governance
- media and technology
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
The quiet layoffs sweeping China’s tech giants
Alibaba reduced its head count by a third in 2025, while Baidu’s workforce declined nearly 7%. “There’s constant churn,” a Chinese tech worker said.
- AI governance
- media and technology
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
Overcoming the algorithmic gender bias in AI-driven personal finance
Artificial intelligence is transforming our world and financial services are no exception. AI is reshaping the personal banking sector but where does it currently stand on gender parity, transparency and fairness? When someone applies for a loan today, there is a growing chance that no human ever re…
- all
-
BRIEF
The digital crown: Reclaiming human dignity in the age of AI
By grounding AI in the right to life, equality, speech, essentials and privacy, we ensure it serves as a mirror of our highest values, rather than a magnifier of our oldest biases.
- geopolitics
- media and technology