At TechBBQ in Copenhagen, the most persistent question haunting Europe’s tech community had little to do with what artificial intelligence can build. Instead, founders, investors, and operators kept circling a far more uncomfortable issue: who actually holds the reins.
The annual Nordic gathering, which wrapped August 27, arrived at a critical juncture. Anthropic’s AI models had become unavailable to users outside Europe earlier in the year, forcing the ecosystem to confront its dependence on American and Chinese technology. As a result, “Emerging from Agency” proved a fitting theme for a conversation that shifted from capability to control.
Some startup leaders described serious disruption from the Anthropic incident. Others brushed it off, noting that while reliance on foreign powers might eventually cause headaches, current operations remained largely unaffected.
Ellen de Brever, an angel investor and partnerships head at Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, captured the mood. “The debates weren’t about smarter machines, but about human judgment and who gets to stay in the driver’s seat,” she said.
Panels covered women’s health innovation, Nordic-African investment collaboration, and growth capital for European ventures. Yet AI sovereignty threaded through nearly every discussion.
Signal President Meredith Whittaker delivered one of the event’s sharpest critiques. She condemned AI assistants embedded in operating systems, calling the current era a “data collection apparatus” built on clever marketing that obscures collateral consequences. “There is still a huge market necessary for privacy,” she noted. “And particularly with the sovereignty concerns, we will have customers here.”
Meanwhile, Stability AI co-founder Emad Mostaque argued that “the person that controls the AI controls the country.” Mia Negru, advocacy director at Life With Artificials, went further, suggesting society may need to rethink ownership, work, democracy, and economic participation entirely.
Outside the panel rooms, rooftop barbecues and cocktail gatherings reminded attendees that human connection remains irreplaceable. As de Brever put it, “In a room full of conversations about machines, the most memorable moments still come from the simplest thing.”
