Tim Berners-Lee on the Web’s past, present, and the future of digital sovereignty

New Scientist sits down with Tim Berners-Lee to reflect on the World Wide Web's invention, its rapid growth, and the wear and tear it now shows. Berners-Lee explains how early design choices helped the web scale and why social media can be addictive, fueling misinformation and polarization. The conversation covers the exposed attention economy and the shift toward an intention economy where tools and AI agents act in service of individuals. Berners-Lee also outlines the Solid protocol and Inrupt's vision for personal data sovereignty, enabling AI that operates for you. The interview touches on governance for superintelligent AI and practical questions about children and smartphones.

The Web's Founding Moment

Tim Berners-Lee discusses his CERN days, the invention of HTML, HTTP, and URLs, and the decision to make the Web universal so it would work across devices and networks. He recalls how adoption benefited from building on familiar engineering concepts, and how the early design choices enabled a vast long tail of creativity and collaboration while acknowledging the system's inherent fragility as it matured.

From Free-Form Growth to Social Media Challenges

The conversation turns to the web’s current wear and tear. Berners-Lee identifies misinformation, polarization, cyber threats, and the addictive nature of modern social platforms. He explains the move from attention economy to intention economy, where applications are used to accomplish user-defined goals, and where AI agents can help users articulate and achieve those goals rather than merely capture attention.

The Case for Digital Sovereignty

The interview delves into domain name system shortcomings and the power imbalances that arise when data is locked inside corporate silos. Berners-Lee proposes a path toward digital sovereignty through the Solid protocol and data pods, which give individuals control over their data and enable interoperable, privacy-preserving apps. He emphasizes that this shift requires collaboration across developers, standards bodies, and users themselves.

AI, Containment, and Governance

On artificial intelligence, Berners-Lee discusses the risk of superintelligence and the need for careful containment, sandboxed development, and transparent governance similar to CERN’s collaborative model. He mentions the idea of an AI Hippocratic Oath and describes how personal AI assistants that know your data and preferences could act in your best interests, provided they respect data sovereignty and interoperability.

Practical Futures: Children, 3D Web, and Optimism

Addressing practical concerns, he outlines how to balance smartphone access for children with safeguards, including parental controls and age-appropriate tools. The dialogue also touches on the 3D web and metaverse concepts, arguing that recent hardware limitations slowed this potential while recognizing that future advances could unlock new kinds of immersive, interoperable experiences. Berners-Lee closes with optimism rooted in open source communities and a belief that powerful AI could someday deliver breakthroughs like cures for cancer.

Conclusion

The interview highlights a forward-looking yet grounded perspective: rebuild data sovereignty, regulate harmful algorithmic design when possible, and harness AI to serve human intentions. It leaves readers with a practical, hopeful vision for a more trustworthy, interoperable web that respects individual sovereignty while continuing to fuel innovation.