This research focuses on the broad idea of global governance and the geopolitics of emerging digital technologies. Specifically, it examines the concepts of sovereignty versus multilateralism in the digital sector — especially AI and related technologies, asking two questions: (i) how do multilateral institutions, amidst the growing fragmentation of international order, advance interstate cooperation in the development and governance of AI systems? (ii) in response, how do low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) balance such international cooperation demands with their individual digital sovereignty ambitions (such as data protection, compute self-sufficiency, and technical standards setting)? In answering, I examine the networks of actors and governance mechanisms in bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral AI & data infrastructure projects in South Africa and India.