Are Open Source Models the Answer to AI Sovereignty? | Civo Navigate London

Civo

Oct 14, 2026

Open source models are closing in on the frontier. But is running them the same as being sovereign?

David Sullivan explains why true sovereignty means owning the whole model lifecycle, and why that's where prototypes stall before production. James Faure shows how distilling small, task-specific models can slash costs. Dr Rosemary Francis argues it's ridiculous to use the most expensive model for every task, and that your harness and engineering process matter more than which model sits at the top of the leaderboard.

Watch the full AI panel: https://youtu.be/P3srrj_KdOs
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