SovereignAI - From Values & Principles to Algorithms and Models
Join us in-person or online for a Thomson Reuters-³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Frontier AI Research Lab talk by Professor Jonathan Richard Schwarz (Co-director of the Lab and Visiting Professor at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ).
Monday 21 September 2026 | 14:30-15:30 PM UK time Clore Lecture Theatre| Huxley Building (South Kensington Campus)
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Speaker Bio: is a Visiting Professor at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute and Expert Advisor to the UK AI Security Institute​. His works sits at the intersection of Foundational Machine Learning and Societal Impacts, with a focus on the development and governance of Frontier models. His experience spans academia, industry and entrepreneurship: He was Head of AI Research at Thomson Reuters, a Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind, Research Fellow at Harvard University and Co-Founder of Safe Sign Technologies. Jonathan obtained his PhD from the joint DeepMind / UCL PhD programme.
Abstract: In recent months, AI Sovereignty has become one of the most contested ideas in global technology policy. While global leaders, researchers and economists agree that sovereignty is essential for national security, economic competitiveness, and cultural self-determination, little concrete guidance is given on how to achieve the objectives. In this talk, I will go one step further, showing how many of the goals of AI Sovereignty can be concretely achieved by a “third-way” approach: By embracing the opportunity of open-weight models and building on an increasingly mature open-source landscape, an alternative option beyond training from scratch or full reliance on existing players emerges. Through a range of carefully designed algorithmic & engineering solutions for Frontier AI development, I will demonstrate how many of the most critical aspects of AI sovereignty can be achieved by a wide range of actors with limited budgets through Continual Learning. Finally, I will present research opportunities for involvement in the Frontier AI Research Lab, including joint PhD supervision.