The annual Bilderberg Meeting is underway in Sweden, providing a private forum for discussion at a time when President Donald Trump has upended security and economic ties between the US and Europe.
The high-level networking event was formed in 1954 to foster dialogue between the US and Europe.
Media outlets are not invited to attend, and delegates rarely speak about what is discussed, triggering numerous conspiracy theories about their aims.
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Christopher Donahue, Commander of the US Army Europe and Africa are among those on this year’s delegate list, published by the organizers just ahead of the meeting.
Others include Palantir boss Alex Karp; Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of German drone and AI company Helsing; and Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek.
Heads of the CIA and MI6 have been among its members, while Henry Kissinger was a regular alongside the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and then-Prince Charles.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will give a speech ‘on Sweden’s and the EU’s competitiveness and Sweden’s support for Ukraine,’ his spokesperson said.
Transatlantic relations top the agenda, with Ukraine, critical raw materials and AI also on the list, according to the organizers who also publish the names of the participants.
A Swedish police vehicle is parked outside the Grand Hotel during the Bilderberg meeting in Stockholm
The meeting organizers do not invite media, and delegates rarely speak about what has been discussed, triggering numerous conspiracy theories about their aims
Other than that, information is scarce. The organizers say the secrecy is to allow participants to be able to speak freely in an environment of trust.
‘There is no desired outcome, there is no closing statement, there are no resolutions proposed or votes taken, and the meeting does not support any political party or viewpoint,’ the official website says.
The Daily Mail infiltrated the 2018 meeting, the first time an undercover journalist ever managed to do so, gaining insights about the meeting’s inner workings.
How much impact groups like Bilderberg actually have is hard to judge, according to Christina Garsten, professor at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, who studies transnational think tanks.
They aim to shape the broad political and corporate agenda. But if they are seen as having too much influence, they can be accused of being anti-democratic.
‘It’s there that conspiracy theories can flower,’ she said.
She dismissed the belief held by some that groups like Bilderberg make up a shadowy world government. ‘I think it’s very much exaggerated,’ she said.
Sunday is the last of four days of talks that were likely dominated by geopolitical concerns, including discussing Israel and Iran’s missile strikes on each other in real time.
Canadian Prime minister Mark Carney attends Bilderberg in 2019, when he was the Governor of the Bank of England discussing ‘The Future of Capitalism’ with other bank bosses
The former US Army general and CIA boss turned Wall Street financier, David Petraeus, arrives at the 2019 meeting after a long-haul flight in comfortable travel wear
Bilderberg insider Nadia Schadlow, a former deputy US national security adviser, hinted ‘the growing collusion among revisionist powers’ would be a big focus of the talks.
‘An authoritarian axis is rapidly coalescing around China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, disrupting the belief that an international community has taken shape in the aftermath of the cold war,’ she said, ahead of the meeting.
Other topics of discussion made public include ‘geopolitics of energy and critical minerals’ and ‘defense innovation and resilience’.
The numerous big tech bosses at the meeting will likely steer solutions towards their technology, such as the increased use of AI-controlled attack drones.
Former Google boss Eric Schmidt, a longtime Bilderberg board member, recently warned that a super-intelligent AI would be created within five years – and he was worried a hostile nation would be first.
‘China is at parity or pulling ahead of the US in a variety of technologies, notably at the AI frontier,’ he said.
‘The geopolitical stakes, especially in the race with China, are enormous.’
Schmidt feared the creation of such AI would give that nation ‘the keys to control the entire world’ with unprecedented military dominance.
Ireland Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe with other attendees of the 2019 meeting
Henry Kissinger at the 2023 Bilderberg meeting in Lisbon, the last before his death later that year
This year’s Bilderberg is the first since a major shift in its leadership with former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg chairing its ‘steering committee’.
Stoltenberg’s tenure at NATO was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and he proudly claimed to have overseen ‘the largest reinforcement of our collective defense in a generation.’
Many of his Bilderberg colleagues have benefited from this increased defense spending. Among them is Trump insider Peter Thiel, boss of AI giant Palantir, whose technology has been used by Ukraine in the fight against Putin.
Stoltenberg will co-chair the steering committee alongside Canadian-American economist, philanthropist, Marie-Josée Kravis who sits on the board of Publicis, one of the world’s largest PR and communications companies.
Kravis is married to the billionaire Henry Kravis, founder of legendary investment firm KKR.
This cabal of the global, largely liberal, elite — with strong ties to the EU — meets every year amid a cloak of secrecy, but Stoltenberg’s appointment as co-chair also reflects the group’s strategic realignment amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Having overseen NATO’s largest defense reinforcement in a generation, Stoltenberg is no stranger to Bilderberg, participating in meetings since 2002.
Marie-Josée Kravis, senior Bilderberg insider, at the 2019 meeting
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took over as co-chair of The Bilderberg Group last year
His tenure as NATO chief was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and increasing NATO expansion, making him a natural choice to steer Bilderberg’s discussions on transatlantic defense.
Meanwhile, Thiel’s growing influence at Bilderberg also signals a convergence of tech innovation and military strategy.
His robotics company, Anduril, and Palantir have both capitalized on the global arms race, reflecting the group’s longstanding ties to defense and intelligence.
Thiel’s ideological alignment with Trump and his tech-driven contributions to defense provide a modern reflection of Bilderberg’s founding ethos – melding elite influence with geopolitical strategy.
Stoltenberg’s leadership, coupled with Thiel’s outsized influence, points to a Bilderberg Group increasingly intertwined with military innovation and political strategy.
