At TechBBQ, Europe’s AI debate centers on who holds control

At TechBBQ in Copenhagen, discussions among European investors, founders, and operators focused less on what to build with AI and more on who should control it. From stage presentations to cocktail hours and after-parties, the prevailing theme was how Europe can assert greater control over the technology driving AI.

This question of sovereignty, aligning with this year’s theme “Emerging from Agency,” gained urgency following Anthropic’s decision to restrict access to its Mythos and Fable AI models for users outside Europe earlier this year.

The incident prompted many in the European ecosystem to critically examine what it means to own the models and infrastructure supporting this AI wave, rather than relying on U.S. and Chinese providers.

One startup executive reported that the Mythos and Fable outage significantly disrupted his software team, while another dismissed the impact. Although relying on geopolitical rivals for AI could cause future issues for Europe, the immediate situation remains manageable.

“TechBBQ’s theme of agency felt particularly timely this year as the conversation shifted from what AI can do to what we’re actually willing to let it do,” Ellen de Brever, an angel investor and head of partnerships at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, told me during the conference, which concluded on August 27.

Discussions covered the future of women’s health, a summit on Nordic-African collaboration in innovation and investment, and strategies to attract more growth capital to Europe. While AI underpinned many conversations, de Brever noted, “the debates weren’t about smarter machines, but about human judgment and who gets to stay in the driver’s seat.”

“The age of AI agents isn’t really a story about machines gaining agency,” she continued. “It’s a story about humans deciding what to give up.”

An attendee highlighted a panel featuring Signal president Meredith Whittaker, which I moderated and focused on the coexistence of privacy and AI, as one of the most refreshing sessions. Whittaker was direct, opposing the integration of AI assistants and agents into operating systems, such as ChatGPT’s integration with iMessage.

She described this AI era as creating a “data collection apparatus,” arguing that AI labs use clever marketing to obscure the “collateral consequences” of acquiring vast amounts of data.

“There is still a huge market need for privacy,” she said. “And particularly with the sovereignty concerns, we will have customers here.”

Elsewhere, Emad Mostaque, co-founder of Stability AI and Intelligent Internet, joined a panel with me to discuss how an agentic workforce will impact the economy and personal sovereignty.

“Sovereignty is the ability to resist power being exerted over you,” Mostaque said. He highlighted the concentration of power among a few AI labs, stating, “Inevitably, every country will be run by AI” and that “the person that controls the AI controls the country.”

Mia Negru, advocacy and engagement director for the nonprofit Life With Artificials, shared her thoughts after the panel.

“If intelligent agents perform cognitive work and robots increasingly perform physical work, we may be approaching something much bigger than another technological revolution,” she wrote. “We may have to rethink ownership, work, democracy, economic participation and eventually even who gets to participate in society.”

However, when panels concluded, attendees relaxed at happy hours and rooftop soirées, where lighter conversations took precedence.

Lovable, Nvidia, OpenAI, AWS Startups, and HSBC co-hosted a rooftop barbecue where I spoke with founders about Denmark’s expanding tech hubs.

London’s Ada Ventures hosted a gathering at the Bird cocktail bar, where I discussed increased innovation in women’s brain health with a health tech founder. Additionally, a speakers’ dinner on a Copenhagen island brought together international press members who watched fire dancers, followed by an after-party upstairs where guests lingered until the bar closed.

“In a room full of conversations about machines, the most memorable moments still come from the simplest thing,” de Brever said. “Human connection, face-to-face, building relationships, sharing ideas, and reminding each other of what technology can never quite replace.”