Attendees at the annual TechBBQ conference in Copenhagen discussed the need for European control over AI infrastructure and the implications of relying on U.S. and Chinese technology.

The annual TechBBQ conference in Copenhagen, which concluded on August 27, centered on the theme of "Emerging from Agency." Throughout the event, European investors, founders, and operators debated the region's reliance on foreign AI models and the necessity of establishing greater sovereignty over the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence.

Debating Control and Sovereignty

The conversation was influenced by the earlier unavailability of Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models to European users, which prompted discussions about the risks of renting AI power from the U.S. and China. Ellen de Brever, head of partnerships at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, noted that the focus shifted from AI capabilities to human judgment and the extent of control humans are willing to cede to machines.

Privacy and Power Concentration

Signal President Meredith Whittaker warned that the current AI era is building a massive data collection apparatus, arguing that AI labs use marketing to obscure the collateral consequences of data acquisition. Emad Mostaque, co-founder of Stability AI and Intelligent Internet, emphasized that sovereignty involves the ability to resist external power, noting that the concentration of AI control in a few labs could have significant geopolitical implications.

Broader Societal Implications

Beyond technical infrastructure, participants discussed the long-term impact of AI on society. Mia Negru, advocacy and engagement director for Life With Artificials, suggested that the combination of cognitive work by intelligent agents and physical work by robots might necessitate a fundamental rethinking of democracy, economic participation, and societal roles.