At TechBBQ, Europe’s AI conversations kept coming back to: Who’s actually in control?

image via TechCrunch

August 29, 2026, 5:51 PM

• •TechBBQ attendees repeatedly focused on AI sovereignty and who controls the models and infrastructure used in Europe.
• •The discussion was sharpened by Anthropic’s earlier withdrawal of its Mythos and Fable models from users outside Europe.
• •Signal President Meredith Whittaker argued that AI assistants and agents embedded in operating systems expand data collection and threaten privacy.
• •Emad Mostaque said concentration of AI power could undermine national and personal sovereignty, while other participants raised broader questions about work, ownership, and democracy.
• •Despite the policy-heavy debate, the conference also featured networking events and informal discussions across Copenhagen’s startup scene.

At Copenhagen’s TechBBQ conference, investors, founders, and operators repeatedly returned to the question of who should control the AI systems shaping Europe’s future. Conversations about sovereignty were intensified by Anthropic’s earlier move that left its Mythos and Fable models unavailable outside Europe, raising concerns about dependence on foreign AI providers. Speakers including Meredith Whittaker and Emad Mostaque warned about the privacy, power, and governance risks that come with concentrated control over data, models, and AI agents. Even amid networking and social events, the dominant theme remained human agency and whether Europe can stay in the driver’s seat as AI spreads.

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