The CEO of Microsoft, the former head of Google and the chief of ChatGPT are among the business elites meeting a slew of top US and European officials in Lisbon this weekend for secretive closed-door talks on global affairs.
This year’s Bilderberg meeting – an annual summit bringing together the business and political elite for an off-the-record conference – is now underway in the Portuguese capital, and AI is set to top the agenda.
Open AI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft head honcho Satya Nadella are expected to head the talks on the rise of artificial intelligence and how the technology is set to shape our future.
But the 69th Bilderberg meeting will also see the northern hemisphere’s elite tackle topics such as the threat posed by China, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change and the banking system, with the likes of NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and BP chief Bernard Looney in attendance.
The Bilderberg meetings are described as ‘a forum for informal discussions about major issues’.
It is argued that their private nature gives elite participants the freedom to take part as individuals who ‘are not bound by conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions’, meaning more candid discussions can be had.
But the secrecy surrounding the events has led conspiracy theorists to suggest that Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one-world government and mould the future of humanity to their benefit.
The Bilderberg Group — so called because it first met in 1954 at the Hotel Bilderberg in the Netherlands to ‘foster dialogue between Europe and North America’ — is made up of around 130 self-proclaimed ‘leading citizens’ who meet annually to discuss ‘issues of common interest’.
So clandestine are the gatherings that no minutes are taken, no press conferences given and no reports published.
The conference operates under ‘Chatham House Rules’, which means participants can use and report information exchanged there but are not permitted to attribute the information or quotes to a particular person or source.
But with no record of what goes on, critics have said it should be much more transparent.
Many argue that the event exists solely to serve as a networking and lobbying opportunity for its attendees.
Every summer, figureheads from politics, business, academia, finance and defence lock themselves away in a closely guarded hotel for three days to discuss topics of vital global significance.
Hypothesis and conjecture about the content of their talks inevitably abound, and the roll-call of attendees is invariably auspicious.
Prime ministers, royalty, army generals, corporate CEOs and bank governors all make time in their busy schedules to be there.
In recent years, the club has extended invitations to a who’s who of tech gurus and Silicone Valley chiefs amid the explosion in tech development, particularly blockchain and cryptocurrency, and now AI.
Some of the most notable names in attendance this year besides AI chiefs and the NATO secretary general are Børge Brende, the President of the World Economic Forum, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné and renowned venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
The most prominent attendees from Britain include former GCHQ Director Jeremy Fleming, Deepmind CEO Demis Hassabis, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Lammy, BP chief Bernard Looney and Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat.
Bilderberg 2023 full attendee list
Abrams, Stacey (USA), CEO, Sage Works Production
Achleitner, Paul M. (DEU), Chair, Global Advisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG
Agrawal, Ajay (CAN), Professor of Economics, University of Toronto
Albares, José Manuel (ESP), Minister of Foreign Affairs
Altman, Sam (USA), CEO, OpenAI
Alverà, Marco (ITA), Co-Founder, zhero.net; CEO TES
Andersson, Magdalena (SWE), Leader, Social Democratic Party
Applebaum, Anne (USA), Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Arnaut, José Luís (PRT), Managing Partner, CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut
Attal, Gabriel (FRA), Minister for Public Accounts
Balsemão, Francisco Pinto (PRT), Chair, Impresa Group
Barbizet, Patricia (FRA), Chair and CEO, Temaris & Associés SAS
Barroso, José Manuel (PRT), Chair, International Advisors, Goldman Sachs
Baudson, Valérie (FRA), CEO, Amundi SA
Beaune, Clément (FRA), Minister for Transport
Benson, Sally (USA), Professor of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Beurden, Ben van (NLD), Special Advisor to the Board, Shell plc
Borg, Anna (SWE), President and CEO, Vattenfall AB
Borrell, Josep (INT), Vice President, European Commission
Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Group Executive Chair, Banco Santander SA
Bourla, Albert (USA), Chair and CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Braathen, Kjerstin (NOR), CEO, DNB ASA
Brende, Børge (NOR), President, World Economic Forum
Brink, Dolf van den (NLD), CEO, Heineken NV
Brudermüller, Martin (DEU), CEO, BASF SE
Buberl, Thomas (FRA), CEO, AXA SA
Byrne, Thomas (IRL), Minister for Sport and Physical Education
Carney, Mark (CAN), Chair, Brookfield Asset Management
Cassis, Ignazio (CHE), Federal Councillor, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Castries, Henri de (FRA), President, Institut Montaigne
Cavoli, Christopher (INT), Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Ceylan, Mehmet Fatih (TUR), President, Ankara Policy Center
Chhabra, Tarun (USA), Senior Director for Technology and National Security, National Security Council
Creuheras, José (ESP), Chair, Grupo Planeta and Atresmedia
Debackere, Koenraad (BEL), Chair, KBC Group NV
Deese, Brian (USA), Former Director, National Economic Council
Donohoe, Paschal (INT), President, Eurogroup
Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), Chair and CEO, Axel Springer SE
Easterly, Jen (USA), Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Economy, Elizabeth (USA), Senior Advisor for China, Department of Commerce
Ehrnrooth, Henrik (FIN), Chair, Otava Group
Émié, Bernard (FRA), Director General for External Security, Ministry of the Armed Forces
Empoli, Giuliano da (ITA), Political Scientist and Writer, Sciences Po
Entrecanales, José M. (ESP), Chair and CEO, Acciona SA
Eriksen, Øyvind (NOR), President and CEO, Aker ASA
Ferguson, Niall (USA), Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Stanford University
Fleming, Jeremy (GBR), Former Director, GCHQ
Frederiksen, Mette (DNK), Prime Minister
Freeland, Chrystia (CAN), Deputy Prime Minister
Garijo, Bélen (DEU), Chair and CEO, Merck KGaA
Gentiloni, Paolo (INT), Commissioner for Economy, European Commission
Gonzáles Pons, Esteban (ESP), Vice Chair, European People’s Party
Gosset-Grainville, Antoine (FRA), Chair, AXA
Goulimis, Nicky (GRC), Board Member and Co-Founder, Nova Credit Inc.
Griffin, Kenneth (USA), Founder and CEO, Citadel LLC
Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Anchor, La7 TV
Gürkaynak, Refet (TUR), Professor of Economics, Bilkent University
Haines, Avril D. (USA), Director of National Intelligence
Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor of Economics, Leiden University
Hassabis, Demis (GBR), CEO, DeepMind
Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation
Hofreiter, Anton (DEU), MP; Chair Committee on European Affairs
Holzen, Madeleine von (CHE), Editor-in-Chief, Le Temps
Jensen, Kristian (DNK), CEO, Green Power Denmark
Joshi, Shashank (GBR), Defence Editor, The Economist
Kaag, Sigrid (NLD), Minister of Finance; Deputy Prime Minister
Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Inc.
Kasparov, Garry (USA), Chair, Renew Democracy Initiative
Kieli, Kasia (POL), President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Poland
Kissinger, Henry A. (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.
Koç, Ömer (TUR), Chair, Koç Holding AS
Kolesnikov, Andrei (INT), Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Kostrzewa, Wojciech (POL), President, Polish Business Roundtable
Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Chairman, KKR & Co. Inc.
Kravis, Marie-Josée (USA), Chair, The Museum of Modern Art
Kudelski, André (CHE), Chair and CEO, Kudelski Group SA
Kuleba, Dmytro (UKR), Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lammy, David (GBR), Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, House of Commons
Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chair, Umicore and Mediahuis; Chair DSM-Firmenich AG
Liikanen, Erkki (FIN), Chair, IFRS Foundation Trustees
Looney, Bernard (GBR), CEO, BP plc
Marin, Sanna (FIN), Prime Minister
Metsola, Roberta (INT), President, European Parliament
Micklethwait, John (USA), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP
Minton Beddoes, Zanny (GBR), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Moreira, Duarte (PRT), Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Zeno Partners
Moyo, Dambisa (GBR), Global Economist; Member, House of Lords
Mundie, Craig J. (USA), President, Mundie & Associates LLC
Nadella, Satya (USA), CEO, Microsoft Corporation
O’Leary, Michael (IRL), Group CEO, Ryanair Group
Orida, Deborah (CAN), President and CEO, PSP Investments
Özel, Soli (TUR), Professor, Kadir Has University
Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), Chair, TITAN Cement Group; Treasurer Bilderberg Meetings
Philippe, Édouard (FRA), Mayor, Le Havre
Pottinger, Matthew (USA), Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution
Pouyanné, Patrick (FRA), Chair and CEO, TotalEnergies SE
Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times
Rappard, Rolly van (NLD), Co-Founder and Co-Chair, CVC Capital Partners
Reynders, Didier (INT), European Commissioner for Justice
Röttgen, Norbert (DEU), MP, German Bundestag
Rutte, Mark (NLD), Prime Minister
Salomon, Martina (AUT), Editor-in-Chief, Kurier
Sawers, John (GBR), Executive Chair, Newbridge Advisory Ltd.
Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Schallenberg, Alexander (AUT), Minister for European and International Affairs
Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Former CEO and Chair, Google LLC
Schmidt, Wolfgang (DEU), Head of the Chancellery, Federal Minister for Special Tasks
Sebastião, Nuno (PRT), Chair and CEO, Feedzai
Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), MEP, European Parliament
Silva, Filipe (PRT), CEO, Galp
Stilwell de Andrade, Miguel (PRT), CEO, EDP
Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO
Subramanian, Arvind (INT), Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Brown University
Tellis, Ashley J. (USA), Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment
Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital LLC
Tsu, Jing (USA), Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Yale University
Tugendhat, Tom (GBR), Minister of State for Security
Vadera, Shriti (GBR), Chair, Prudential plc
Vassilakis, Eftichios (GRC), Chair, Aegean Group
Waldron, John (USA), President and COO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chair, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB
Wennink, Peter (NLD), President and CEO, ASML Holding NV
Wright, Thomas (USA), Senior Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council
Yang, Yuan (GBR), Europe-China Correspondent, Financial Times
Yergin, Daniel (USA), Vice Chair, S&P Global
Yinanç, Barçin (TUR), Journalist, T24 News Website
