A global network of thinkers navigating change through ideas
what we do
Fostering Ideas for the Future
Since its founding, the Berggruen Institute has sought to forge new conceptual frameworks that meet today’s planetary-scale challenges and harness the opportunities of rapid technological change. As an independent incubator of ideas, positioned at the intersection of science, technology, philosophy and the arts, the Institute has the autonomy to step outside the usual lanes, reaching beyond academic disciplines, social divides, partisan dispositions and cultural boundaries.
With hubs in Los Angeles, Beijing and Venice, tied together by a publishing web and a global network of frontier thinkers, the Institute is a unique platform for the cross-fertilization and dissemination of ideas that seed new foundational paradigms.
featured
featured
Nicolas Berggruen & Nathan Gardels
Universal Basic Capital: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Berggruen Institute China
On the Equality of All Things with Carlo Rovelli
Engaged California
Gov. Newsom launches Engaged California statewide to give all Californians a stronger voice in AI policy
UCLA x Berggruen Institute
2026 Berggruen Governance Index
Berggruen Institute Europe
Collana dei Tre Oci Subscription
Berggruen Institute China
Berggruen Institute China 2025 Annual Report
Carlo Rovelli: Love and Quantum Physics are the Same
In this episode, physicist Carlo Rovelli takes the relational thinking behind his physics and turns it on consciousness. The question we treat as deepest, what the self is, is the wrong question. A riddle with no answer. The self is not an illusion. It’s just made of everything around it. Your family, friends, partner, even enemies. Take the relations away, and there’s no there there.
Listen/Watch on YouTube
Stop Freaking Out About AI
Is our panic about AI overblown? MIT economist Andrew McAfee wants us to look at the facts first.
Listen/Watch on YouTube
Fareed Zakaria | $15,000 Drones Can Now Hold the World Hostage
The state used to hold a monopoly on violence. CNN Host Fareed Zakaria says that that world is ending.
Listen/Watch on YouTube
We Were Promised a World Without Work…
Can technology still free us from the drudgery of work? Nick Srnicek argues that reclaiming AI from corporate monopolies is the way to transform automation into freedom.
Listen/Watch on YouTube
Welcome to the Multiverse with Google Quantum AI’s Hartmut Neven
Can quantum computing unlock the secrets of consciousness and hasten the arrival of artificial super intelligence? Hartmut Neven, the visionary founder of Google’s Quantum AI Lab, has spent decades pushing the boundaries of what machines can do. Now he’s betting on quantum computing to clear the path for the next era of possibilities.
Listen/Watch on YouTube
Neuroscientist Christof Koch on Why LLMs Are Emotional Deep Fakes
Where does consciousness come from, and who (or what) gets to have it? The newest AI models have the power to convince users that they’re very much alive inside. But what if there were a test to check if they’re right? Consciousness science is working on just that.
Listen/Watch on YouTubeUpcoming & Recent Events
June 18, 2026
"The Concept of World Order & the European Possibility" Lecture by Nils GilmanCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
May 28, 2026
Global Thinkers Lecture with Brook Ziporyn, Roger Ames, and Cheng LesongBerggruen Institute China
June 2, 2026
Conversation with Michael Sandel & Ngaire WoodsBlavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
June 4, 2026
Democracy in Peril: Paths to Civic Renewal with Michael SandelCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
June 18, 2026
"The Concept of World Order & the European Possibility" Lecture by Nils GilmanCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
May 28, 2026
Global Thinkers Lecture with Brook Ziporyn, Roger Ames, and Cheng LesongBerggruen Institute China
June 2, 2026
Conversation with Michael Sandel & Ngaire WoodsBlavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
June 4, 2026
Democracy in Peril: Paths to Civic Renewal with Michael SandelCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
June 18, 2026
"The Concept of World Order & the European Possibility" Lecture by Nils GilmanCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
May 28, 2026
Global Thinkers Lecture with Brook Ziporyn, Roger Ames, and Cheng LesongBerggruen Institute China
June 2, 2026
Conversation with Michael Sandel & Ngaire WoodsBlavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
June 4, 2026
Democracy in Peril: Paths to Civic Renewal with Michael SandelCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
June 18, 2026
"The Concept of World Order & the European Possibility" Lecture by Nils GilmanCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
May 28, 2026
Global Thinkers Lecture with Brook Ziporyn, Roger Ames, and Cheng LesongBerggruen Institute China
June 2, 2026
Conversation with Michael Sandel & Ngaire WoodsBlavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
June 4, 2026
Democracy in Peril: Paths to Civic Renewal with Michael SandelCasa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
Berggruen Institute Europe
Join the Tre Oci Book Club
Berggruen Institute China
Explore Cuiling, the Chinese counterpart to Noema
In the News
April 15, 2026
"Michael Sandel saw it coming" | Berggruen Prize Ceremony Recap in the Harvard GazetteHarvard Gazette
March 6, 2026
"Reclaiming Democracy From the Market" Michael Sandel interviewed by Daron Acemoglu in Project SyndicateProject Syndicate
April 15, 2026
"Michael Sandel saw it coming" | Berggruen Prize Ceremony Recap in the Harvard GazetteHarvard Gazette
March 6, 2026
"Reclaiming Democracy From the Market" Michael Sandel interviewed by Daron Acemoglu in Project SyndicateProject Syndicate
April 15, 2026
"Michael Sandel saw it coming" | Berggruen Prize Ceremony Recap in the Harvard GazetteHarvard Gazette
March 6, 2026
"Reclaiming Democracy From the Market" Michael Sandel interviewed by Daron Acemoglu in Project SyndicateProject Syndicate
April 15, 2026
"Michael Sandel saw it coming" | Berggruen Prize Ceremony Recap in the Harvard GazetteHarvard Gazette
March 6, 2026
"Reclaiming Democracy From the Market" Michael Sandel interviewed by Daron Acemoglu in Project SyndicateProject Syndicate
Subscribe to receive the latest issue of Noema Magazine
Published by the Berggruen Institute
Subscribe now