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Pluralistic: AI digital sovereignty risk doesn't exist (18 Jun 2026)
10 hours ago
- The argument that AI digital sovereignty risk is nonexistent is framed using the formula: if problem + AI = problem – AI, then AI = 0, meaning AI adds no solution to real digital sovereignty issues.
- Real digital sovereignty risks involve US tech giants' control over essential services (e.g., iPhones, Office 365, tractors) that can be shut down by political actions, not AI access.
- Investing in national AI under the guise of digital sovereignty is wasteful and misguided; better to wait for the AI bubble to burst and acquire resources cheaply, while focusing on building domestic alternatives to US platforms.
- The article criticizes blockchain-based DAOs similarly: they promise trustless systems but ultimately rely on a single trusted person, showing the illusion of technological solutions to institutional problems.
Pluralistic: Jailbreaking isn't theft (25 Jun 2026)
10 hours ago
- Jailbreaking an iPhone is not theft; it enables users to install software from alternative sources, which is a legitimate right for device owners.
- Canada's digital sovereignty is threatened by reliance on US tech services like Microsoft 365 and Apple, which Trump can terminate, paralyzing the country.
- Canadian law criminalizes jailbreaking, a holdover from trade agreements with the US that Trump has violated, costing Canada billions in potential revenue.
- Legalizing jailbreaking could allow Canadian businesses to compete with US tech giants, reducing 30% app store fees and boosting local economies.
- Apple's founders used illegal circumvention devices (Blue Boxes) to finance their company, yet Apple now uses similar laws to stifle competition.
- Canada should focus on becoming a 'disenshittification nation' by legalizing jailbreaking, not on building its own AI, to enhance resilience and profit.
How proprietary formats have become Microsoft’s main tool for lock-in
8 days ago
- Proprietary document formats, especially those from Microsoft Office, create dependency by binding data to specific software, leading to 'lock-in'.
- Microsoft's OOXML was standardized but remains proprietary in practice due to its complexity and Microsoft's implementation dominance.
- Lock-in affects individuals and institutions, risking document integrity and long-term access, especially in critical sectors like government and law.
- True digital sovereignty requires adopting open standards like ODF, open fonts, and archival formats like PDF/A to ensure independence and accessibility.
- Every document embodies hidden dependencies, making format choices critical for avoiding vendor control and ensuring future readability.
Swiss Army Breaks with Microsoft: "Cyber Command" Relies on Open Source
14 days ago
- The Swiss Army's Cyber Command and CEA units are switching from Microsoft to the open-source alternative OpenDesk by October, due to Microsoft's push towards its own cloud infrastructure.
- This move is driven by security concerns, as Microsoft's cloud-based Office 365 is deemed unsuitable for handling classified military data, with fears that U.S. laws like the Cloud Act could lead to data access by foreign intelligence agencies.
- Geopolitical risks, such as recent U.S. actions including sales bans and forced data handovers, have heightened urgency for digital sovereignty and reducing dependence on U.S. tech giants.
- OpenDesk, developed by Germany's Zendis, is part of a broader trend in German-speaking countries towards open-source solutions, with the Austrian Armed Forces migrating to LibreOffice and the Bundeswehr's IT system using similar software.
- Switzerland's 2024 law mandates disclosure of source code for government software to enhance transparency and reduce vendor dependencies, and the army is actively contributing to open-source projects, such as publishing its own document search engine, Loom.
Germany's richest man takes on Big Tech
17 days ago
- Schwarz Digits, part of the Schwarz Group, opens a new headquarters in Bad Friedrichshall, Germany, as a statement to compete with Big Tech.
- The Schwarz Group, founded by Dieter Schwarz, is a secretive retail conglomerate with significant revenue, expanding into digitalization and cloud services.
- Schwarz Digits aims to provide independent IT and cloud solutions for Europe, reducing reliance on US and Chinese technology, and has secured major contracts.
- The company is investing heavily in infrastructure, including an €11 billion data center, to attract IT talent and promote Germany as an innovation hub.
- Heilbronn is transforming into a knowledge city through initiatives like the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, education campuses, and an AI innovation park (IPAI).
- Despite smaller revenue compared to giants like Amazon, Schwarz Digits is confident in its long-term role in Europe's digital sovereignty and AI development.
Confidential computing's core trust mechanism is broken. The fix may not exist
24 days ago
- Confidential computing relies on remote attestation to prove a server runs in a genuine Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) before sharing sensitive data.
- New research reveals flaws in attested TLS protocols used in confidential computing, allowing relay attacks where a client’s connection can be redirected to a compromised server without detection.
- The study formalizes three levels of cryptographic binding for attestation, with level three (tying evidence to application traffic keys) potentially unattainable in current intra-handshake architectures.
- Real-world implementations like Meta’s WhatsApp, Edgeless Systems’ Contrast, and Cocos AI are vulnerable, leading to CVE-2026-33697, a high-severity vulnerability.
- Despite responsible disclosure, the Confidential Computing Consortium’s Attestation Special Interest Group delayed creating a repository for the research artifacts, raising concerns about vendor influence.
- Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) cautions that confidential computing alone cannot meet digital sovereignty requirements, highlighting dependencies on external services.
- Intel and Google continue marketing confidential computing for sovereignty, but Intel avoided addressing legal risks under U.S. laws like RISAA, while Google did not respond.
- The IETF has incorporated formal verification into its standards process, but the sales pitch for confidential computing often overlooks these fundamental security gaps.
- The researcher recommends abandoning intra-handshake attestation in favor of post-handshake methods to achieve stronger security guarantees.

digital sovereignty

Pluralistic: AI digital sovereignty risk doesn't exist (18 Jun 2026)

Pluralistic: Jailbreaking isn't theft (25 Jun 2026)

How proprietary formats have become Microsoft’s main tool for lock-in

Swiss Army Breaks with Microsoft: "Cyber Command" Relies on Open Source

Germany's richest man takes on Big Tech

Confidential computing's core trust mechanism is broken. The fix may not exist