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

在 TechBBQ 大会上，欧洲的 AI 讨论始终绕不开一个核心问题：到底谁说了算？

At TechBBQ in Copenhagen, the conversation among investors, founders, and operators from across Europe wasn’t just about what to build with AI, but who should control it. No matter where you were during the annual Nordic conference, from onstage to cocktail hours and after-parties, the chatter kept coming back to how Europe can gain more control over the technology powering AI. 在哥本哈根举行的 TechBBQ 大会上，来自欧洲各地的投资者、创始人和运营者们讨论的焦点不仅在于如何利用 AI 进行构建，更在于谁应该掌控它。在这场年度北欧科技盛会上，无论是在台上演讲、鸡尾酒会还是会后的派对，人们的谈话始终围绕着一个核心：欧洲如何才能对驱动 AI 的技术获得更多掌控权。

That question of sovereignty — which fittingly marked this year’s theme of “Emerging from Agency” — was especially timely after Anthropic’s AI models Mythos and Fable became unavailable to users outside Europe earlier this year. The incident led many in the European ecosystem to think seriously about what it means to own the models and the infrastructure underpinning this AI wave, instead of renting that power from the U.S. and China. 这一关于“主权”的问题——恰好呼应了今年“从代理中崛起”（Emerging from Agency）的主题——在 Anthropic 的 AI 模型 Mythos 和 Fable 今年早些时候对欧洲以外用户关闭服务后，显得尤为紧迫。这一事件促使欧洲生态系统中的许多人开始认真思考：拥有支撑这波 AI 浪潮的模型和基础设施意味着什么，而不是仅仅从美国和中国“租用”这种算力。

One startup exec told me the Mythos and Fable incident seriously disrupted his software team, while another shrugged it off. Sure, the startup exec said, relying on two other geopolitical powers for AI might one day cause Europe severe headaches, but for now, everything is still pretty much OK. 一位初创公司高管告诉我，Mythos 和 Fable 事件严重干扰了他的软件团队，而另一位高管则对此不以为意。那位初创公司高管表示，虽然在 AI 领域依赖另外两个地缘政治大国未来可能会给欧洲带来严重的头痛，但就目前而言，一切基本还算正常。

“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 that wrapped up August 27. “今年 TechBBQ 关于‘代理权’的主题显得格外及时，因为讨论的重点已经从 AI 能做什么，转向了我们实际上愿意让它做什么，”诺和诺德基金会加速器（Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator）的天使投资人兼合作伙伴负责人 Ellen de Brever 在 8 月 27 日闭幕的大会上对我说道。

There were panels about the future of women’s health, a summit on how the Nordic and African ecosystems can collaborate on innovation and investment, and talks about how to get more growth capital into Europe. AI was an underlying theme in many of the conversations, but as de Brever pointed out, “the debates weren’t about smarter machines, but about human judgment and who gets to stay in the driver’s seat.” 大会期间举办了关于女性健康未来的小组讨论，探讨北欧与非洲生态系统如何在创新和投资方面进行合作的峰会，以及如何为欧洲引入更多增长资本的对话。AI 是许多讨论背后的潜在主题，但正如 de Brever 所指出的，“辩论的焦点不在于机器是否更聪明，而在于人类的判断力，以及谁能掌握方向盘。”

“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.” “AI 代理时代并不是关于机器获得自主权的故事，”她继续说道，“这是一个关于人类决定放弃什么的故事。”

An attendee told me that one of the most refreshing sessions at the event was the panel with Signal President Meredith Whittaker, which I moderated and focused on whether privacy and AI can coexist. Whittaker didn’t mince words, and spoke out against AI assistants and agents being integrated into operating systems, like what ChatGPT is doing with iMessage. She said this AI era is creating a “data collection apparatus” and that AI labs are using clever marketing to make people forget “about the collateral consequences” of acquiring so much data. 一位与会者告诉我，活动中最令人耳目一新的环节之一是由我主持的、关于隐私与 AI 能否共存的小组讨论，嘉宾是 Signal 总裁 Meredith Whittaker。Whittaker 直言不讳，公开反对将 AI 助手和代理集成到操作系统中（例如 ChatGPT 与 iMessage 的整合）。她表示，这个 AI 时代正在制造一个“数据收集装置”，而 AI 实验室正利用精明的营销手段，让人们忘记获取海量数据所带来的“附带后果”。

“There is still a huge market need for privacy,” she said. “And particularly with the sovereignty concerns, we will have customers here.” “市场对隐私的需求依然巨大，”她说，“特别是在主权担忧的背景下，我们在这里会有客户。”

Elsewhere, Emad Mostaque, co-founder of Stability AI and Intelligent Internet, sat on a panel with me about how an agentic workforce will impact the economy and what that means for personal sovereignty. “Sovereignty is the ability to resist power being exerted over you,” Mostaque said. He spoke about the concentration of power in the hands of a few AI labs and said, “Inevitably, every country will be run by AI and that ‘the person that controls the AI controls the country.’” 在另一个环节，Stability AI 和 Intelligent Internet 的联合创始人 Emad Mostaque 与我共同探讨了代理型劳动力将如何影响经济，以及这对个人主权意味着什么。“主权就是抵御强加于你的权力的能力，”Mostaque 说道。他谈到了权力集中在少数几个 AI 实验室手中的现状，并表示：“不可避免地，每个国家都将由 AI 运行，而‘控制 AI 的人就控制了国家’。”

Mia Negru, the advocacy and engagement director for the nonprofit Life With Artificials, sent me a message after the panel about what crossed her mind as she listened. “If intelligent agents perform cognitive work and robots increasingly perform physical work, we may be approaching something much bigger than another technological revolution,” she said in the message. “We may have to rethink ownership, work, democracy, economic participation and eventually even who gets to participate in society.” 非营利组织 Life With Artificials 的倡导与参与总监 Mia Negru 在小组讨论后给我发了一条信息，分享了她的想法。“如果智能代理执行认知工作，而机器人越来越多地执行体力工作，我们可能正在接近一场比单纯的技术革命大得多的变革，”她在信息中写道，“我们可能不得不重新思考所有权、工作、民主、经济参与，甚至最终思考谁有权参与社会。”

But when the panels weren’t in session, people let loose at happy hours and rooftop soirées, where more lighter conversations eventually took over. Lovable, Nvidia, OpenAI, AWS Startups, and HSBC came together to host a rooftop barbecue where I spoke to founders about Denmark’s growing tech hubs. London’s Ada Ventures hosted a gathering at the cocktail bar Bird where I chatted with one health tech founder about increased innovation in the women’s brain health space. Then, there was the speakers’ dinner on an island in the middle of Copenhagen where the international press sat together and watched fire dancers. The after-party continued upstairs, where everyone was tempted to stay for one more drink until the bar tab closed. 当小组讨论结束时，人们在欢乐时光和屋顶派对上放松下来，轻松的话题最终占据了主导。Lovable、Nvidia、OpenAI、AWS Startups 和汇丰银行联合举办了一场屋顶烧烤，我在那里与创始人们讨论了丹麦日益增长的科技中心。伦敦的 Ada Ventures 在 Bird 鸡尾酒吧举办了一场聚会，我与一位健康科技创始人聊到了女性大脑健康领域日益增长的创新。此外，在哥本哈根市中心的一个岛上还举行了演讲者晚宴，国际媒体齐聚一堂，观看了火舞表演。会后派对在楼上继续进行，大家都被吸引着多喝一杯，直到酒吧打烊。

“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.” “在一个充满关于机器讨论的房间里，最难忘的时刻依然来自最简单的事情，”de Brever 说，“人与人之间的连接、面对面的交流、建立关系、分享想法，并互相提醒那些技术永远无法完全取代的东西。”