Key facts
| Sovereignty criteria | Data residency, model control, operational sovereignty and compliance alignment |
| Deployment models | Plugsky cloud region, VPC/private endpoint, on-prem and fully air-gapped |
| Region-locked planes | EU (Frankfurt), GCC (UAE and KSA), APAC (Singapore) and US (Virginia and Oregon); confirm the current list |
| Air-gapped mode | No internet egress, a local model registry and offline update channels |
| Key custody | BYOK via AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, HashiCorp Vault or an on-prem HSM |
| Audit | Per-request logs with region; SIEM export; retention up to 7 years |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II under NDA, ISO 27001, HIPAA with a BAA; FedRAMP Moderate in process |
| Local presence | No Chicago office or facility claimed; sovereignty is deployment-based |
TL;DR
- Chicago's cross-state operations meet sectoral US rules plus Illinois biometric-specific law.
- Plugsky publishes no Chicago facility; options are cloud regions, VPC, on-prem and air-gapped.
- One OpenAI-compatible API reaches 30+ models, so SDK code and prompts carry over.
- BYOK keeps key custody with you via your KMS or an on-prem HSM.
- VPC and private-endpoint deployments keep the control plane inside your cloud account.
How it works, step by step
- Define which sovereignty criteria your regulator, board or customer requires.
- Choose the deployment topology: cloud region, private cloud, on-prem or air-gapped.
- Decide key custody — managed KMS or an on-prem HSM with BYOK.
- Design offline update and model-approval workflows for air-gapped sites.
- Validate audit log fields, SIEM export and retention against your policy.
- Run a pilot on one workload and collect the evidence procurement needs.
- Move to production once the controls are signed off.
Try it yourself
The Chicago case for sovereign AI
Chicago is the largest city in the US Midwest and a global hub for financial exchanges, logistics, manufacturing and corporate headquarters, served by O'Hare and a dense rail network. Its firms operate across US state lines and often across borders. US compliance is sectoral and state-driven, and Illinois adds rules for specific data types.
Sovereign AI means data, models, compute and operations stay inside your jurisdiction and perimeter, with local administrators able to run, patch and audit the stack. Plugsky publishes no Chicago office or data centre; options and the current region list are at /data-residency.
Cloud, VPC, on-prem or air-gapped: what each proves
Sovereign programmes in the United States typically pick one of four patterns:
- Region-locked cloud: a pinned data plane — EU (Frankfurt), GCC (UAE and KSA), APAC (Singapore) or US (Virginia and Oregon); see /data-residency.
- VPC or private endpoint: runs inside your AWS, Azure or GCP account with no public ingress.
- On-prem: open-weight models on hardware you own, operated and patched locally.
- Air-gapped: no internet egress, a local model registry and offline update channels.
For US teams, the Virginia and Oregon planes keep processing in-country; check /data-residency for the current list before pinning production. BYOK keeps key custody with you via AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, HashiCorp Vault or an on-prem HSM, and per-request audit logs capture model, tokens, latency, user and region.
What procurement can verify
Enterprise buyers get documentation rather than slogans: SOC 2 Type II under NDA, ISO 27001/27017/27018, HIPAA with a BAA and GDPR alignment; FedRAMP Moderate is in process. Contracts can include a DPA with EU SCCs, sub-processor terms, audit rights and custom SLAs.
In the United States, sector rules apply alongside state privacy and security laws, and Illinois adds biometric-specific obligations under BIPA. Map the regimes that cover your data and confirm with counsel.
Starting small: a sovereign pilot checklist
A sovereign pilot works best as a bounded exercise: one workload, written requirements, one deployment pattern. Decide early whether keys are managed through your KMS or an on-prem HSM, and define how models are approved and updated without internet egress. Capture audit fields, retention and SIEM export during the pilot and hand that evidence to procurement.
Because the API is OpenAI-compatible, existing SDK code, prompts and evaluation harnesses keep working, and one key reaches 30+ models. New accounts can start on the free plan with plugsky-micro and plugsky-lite and a 14-day full-access trial; current plans are listed on the live pricing page.
Honest comparison
| Capability | Plugsky | Typical public-cloud AI | Building in-house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty scope | Data, model, operations and compliance covered | Usually data location only | You must build and prove all four |
| Deployment models | Cloud region, VPC, on-prem, air-gapped | Shared public cloud only | Your own infrastructure only |
| Air-gapped mode | No internet egress, offline updates | Not offered | Custom engineering effort |
| Key custody | BYOK via KMS or on-prem HSM | Provider-managed keys | You operate the HSMs |
| Audit | Per-request logs with region; SIEM export; up to 7 years | Often limited retention | You build the pipeline |
| Local presence in Chicago | No facility claimed; sovereignty is deployment-based | Varies by provider | Depends on your own sites |
Frequently asked questions
Does Plugsky have a facility in Chicago?
No. Plugsky does not claim an office or data centre in Chicago; sovereign deployments are delivered as cloud regions, private environments or customer-owned infrastructure. See /data-residency for the current region list.
What makes a deployment sovereign?
Four criteria at once: data residency, model control, operational sovereignty and compliance alignment. Pinning storage to a region alone does not satisfy the full set.
Can Plugsky run fully air-gapped?
Yes. Air-gapped deployments run with no internet egress, a local model registry and offline update channels, which suits defence, government and critical infrastructure programmes.
Who holds the encryption keys?
You can. BYOK is supported through AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, HashiCorp Vault or an on-prem HSM, with per-region envelope encryption for data at rest.
What compliance evidence can we review?
SOC 2 Type II under NDA, ISO 27001/27017/27018 and HIPAA with a BAA; FedRAMP Moderate is in process. Enterprise contracts add a DPA with EU SCCs, sub-processor terms and right-to-audit clauses.
Can we keep using the OpenAI SDK?
Yes. The API is OpenAI-compatible, so you change the base URL and model name and keep your existing SDK, prompts and evaluations.
How do we start a sovereign pilot?
Pick one workload, define the sovereignty criteria in writing, choose the deployment topology and key custody, then run the pilot and collect the evidence procurement needs before production.
How does data protection law in the United States affect deployment choice?
US rules are sectoral and state-based rather than a single federal law, so applicability has to be mapped per dataset. Residency and processing-location requirements usually decide whether a hosted, VPC, on-prem or air-gapped pattern is acceptable.