At TechBBQ in Copenhagen, investors, founders, and operators grappled with AI sovereignty under the theme "Emerging from Agency." The urgency intensified after Anthropic's models Mythos and Fable became unavailable outside Europe earlier this year, disrupting some startups while others dismissed immediate concerns. Angel investor Ellen de Brever of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator noted the shift from AI capabilities to human judgment about control. Signal President Meredith Whittaker, in a panel on privacy and AI, warned against integrating AI assistants into operating systems, calling it a "data collection apparatus" with collateral consequences.

Emad Mostaque, co-founder of Stability AI and Intelligent Internet, argued sovereignty means resisting external power, predicting "the person that controls the AI controls the country." Life With Artificials director Mia Negru suggested AI agents and robots may force a rethink of ownership, work, and democracy. Amid serious panels, lighter networking continued at events hosted by Lovable, Nvidia, OpenAI, AWS Startups, HSBC, and Ada Ventures, highlighting Denmark's growing tech hubs.