Algorithmic Empire and the New Digital Colonialism: The Legal Struggle for Technological Self-Determination in the Age of AI
Barry Appleton, New York Law School; Balsillie School of International Affairs. Date written: August 12, 2025
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) governance is emerging as a constitutional question of sovereignty, not merely a regulatory or technical matter. This paper introduces the concept of algorithmic empire to describe how dominant AI governance models—market-led (United States), rights-based (European Union), and state-centric (China)—embed regulatory logics in technical systems with extraterritorial reach. These architectures constrain the policy autonomy of other states and risk creating a stratified order where a few jurisdictions set the rules and others comply.
Through comparative legal analysis and examination of digital trade provisions in the CPTPP and USMCA, the paper shows how early governance choices in transformative technologies can lock in structural dependencies. It proposes a framework for technological self-determination comprising constitutional recognition of AI governance authority, preservation of domestic policy space in trade agreements, and institutional capacity building.
The framework applies not only to AI but also to emerging technologies such as synthetic biology, neural connectivity, and quantum computing. The stakes are immediate: states that act now can still shape the rules; those that delay will inherit architectures designed by others.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence Governance, Digital Colonialism, Digital Sovereignty, Technological Hegemony;, Platform Governance;, Algorithmic Accountability & Transparency;, International Trade Law & Technology, Technological Non-Alignment, Technological Self-Determination, AI & International Law, Agorithmic Empire, Cloud Jurisdiction & Extraterritoriality;, AI Infrastructure Dependency
JEL Classification: F13, K33, K39, O33, O38, L86
Suggested Citation:
Appleton, Barry, Algorithmic Empire and the New Digital Colonialism: The Legal Struggle for Technological Self-Determination in the Age of AI (August 12, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5389292 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5389292