As G20 president, South Africa can highlight the importance of digital sovereignty for ensuring dignity, economic justice, and resilience. For much of the Global South, especially Africa, AI remains something imported, not shaped, governed or owned. Without it, countries become passive users of external technologies, subject to decisions made in foreign boardrooms and labs with little input from the Global South. The UN’s proposed Global Digital Compact (GDC) reinforces the need for inclusive digital governance. Reform global AI governance: AI is inherently global, but current governance structures are skewed.