About 130 business and political leaders are gathering in Lisbon this week for the annual Bilderberg Meeting, with artificial intelligence listed at the top of the published agenda. The closed-door forum, now in its 69th edition, was founded in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America, according to a press release for the event.
Among those invited are OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, DeepMind head Demis Hassabis, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Altman's inclusion follows his first congressional testimony on AI regulation earlier the same week. Political invitees include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Tech investor and OpenAI cofounder Peter Thiel and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla are also expected.
Why AI's Placement Draws Notice
The agenda's order is alphabetical, which places AI first regardless of priority. Still, the listing follows a year in which geopolitical realignments tied to Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominated the meeting's media coverage. The shift in emphasis, at least in public framing, reflects AI's growing prominence among decision-makers.
The event's press release describes Bilderberg as a forum for informal discussions about major issues, offering no details on specific sessions. Discussions are not disclosed, and no outcomes or policy commitments are announced.
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