Berggruen Institute

Antikythera and MIT Press are pleased to announce their new book series with the inaugural title What Is Life? by leading AI researcher and longtime Antikythera collaborator Blaise Agüera y Arcas. Taking its title from theoretical physicist Erwin Schr?dinger’s 1944 book of the same name, What Is Life? shows how self-reproduction, hence life, is inherently computational. Drawing on decades of theory and existing literature as well as recent experiments in artificial life, Agüera y Arcas demonstrates how life’s essence can be understood as computation that grows more complex over time in symbiotic relationships: https://lnkd.in/dhttM42N This small, richly illustrated volume, designed by James Goggin of Practise, is the first part of Agüera y Arcas’s larger book What Is Intelligence?, which further develops a computational and symbiotic perspective on intelligence, spanning simple organisms, brains, societies, and AI: https://lnkd.in/giEVkum9. What Is Intelligence?, will be released in September 2025 as part of the new Antikythera and MIT Press book series, which explores critical questions at the intersection of planetary computation, science, and society.

Berggruen Press launches today! Keep your eye our for beautifully designed books whose "uncategorizable ideas cross political, philosophical, scientific, academic, and cultural boundaries." Congrats, Peter Mellgard! https://lnkd.in/gmSdx2t8

The Berggruen Institute invites you to explore the profound nature of consciousness. Submissions for our prestigious essay competition on consciousness are now open, with a deadline of July 31st. ??This year's prize offers an unprecedented opportunity: a $50,000 USD award (both in English and Chinese) for compelling essays that delve into this complex topic from both Eastern and Western perspectives. Winning essays will be published to offer invaluable insights into the diverse viewpoints on consciousness held by scholars across cultures. ??Join us as we elevate these vital voices through a platform of public discourse, allowing readers to engage with fresh interpretations of this enduring philosophical question. Learn more & submit your essay here: https://lnkd.in/dgFV7uZi

Our fearless deputy editor Peter Mellgard is launching a new endeavor! The Berggruen Press, a new arm of the Berggruen Institute, will publish noteworthy books that will help seed new ways of thinking. #publishing #books #publisher

In partnership with the Berggruen Institute we’ve created the Eon Ark. ? The Eon Ark is a glass digital storage device that contains an agentic version of -you- that will, if our plans succeed, take you to the very edge of time, possibly millions of years into the future. In an experience hosted by the Berggruen Institute, we ask everyone who engages with the Eon Ark a series of questions designed to reveal aspects of their personality. This creates a digital AI powered fingerprint of your consciousness and personality - that we embed into the glass of The Eon Ark. Because glass doesn’t biodegrade for thousands, possibly even millions of years, we introduce the profoundly unique possibility that a version of you, your future facing agent, will have the opportunity to talk to another human being in the distant in the far, almost unimaginable future. If we’re going to change the future, we need to change the way we think about it and maybe if we know that some part of us will be there, at the edge of the horizon where the light meets the Earth, we can do that. Explore the Eon Ark here - https://lnkd.in/dQTBjpVa Thank you to Richard Hart Heidi Chisholm Public/Official our partners at Berggruen and Tim Nudd for the Ad Age coverage. ?? #NewWork #AI #InnovativeTech #SoundsFun

Scenes from PST ART Open House. Proxima Kósmos?invited audiences to explore the possibilities of extraterrestrial life through scientific modeling and speculative storytelling—featuring an immersive lecture, site-specific performance, cinematic projection, and zine release. From thought-provoking discussions to dynamic performances and a vibrant art book fair, the day was a celebration of art, science, and imagination.

This past weekend, PST ART Open House brought together artists, scientists, and thought leaders for a day-to-night exploration of art, science, and speculative futures. The Berggruen Institute was proud to present Proxima Kósmos, an immersive presentation on the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, combining rigorous scientific modeling with creative storytelling through a lecture, site-specific performance, cinematic projection, and zine release. The event also featured Radiolab’s live game show taping, a pop-up art book fair by Printed Matter, performances by AfroRithm Futures Group and Julianna Barwick, and a late-night Hydrofeminism Lounge. Thank you to all who joined us in this inspiring exchange of ideas.

The Berggruen Institute invites you to explore the profound nature of consciousness. Submissions for our prestigious essay competition on consciousness are now open, with a deadline of July 31st. ??This year's prize offers an unprecedented opportunity: a $50,000 USD award (both in English and Chinese) for compelling essays that delve into this complex topic from both Eastern and Western perspectives. Winning essays will be published to offer invaluable insights into the diverse viewpoints on consciousness held by scholars across cultures. ??Join us as we elevate these vital voices through a platform of public discourse, allowing readers to engage with fresh interpretations of this enduring philosophical question. Learn more & submit your essay here: https://lnkd.in/dgFV7uZi

The launch of Engaged California represents a major step toward participatory governance. This new platform fosters direct communication between policymakers and citizens, enabling more informed decision-making and collaborative problem-solving.As Nathan Gardels, Editor-in-Chief of Noema Magazine, explains: "Engaged California is a permanent feature of state government designed to listen at scale, allowing citizens to voice their concerns and collaborate on priorities, ensuring a more responsive and inclusive government."Link in bio for details. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/djttcB7D

An excerpt from Nils Gilman’s opening plenary, kicking off the Planetary Summit 2024. Full seminar and highlighted videos to come. In November 2024, the Planetary Summit, a two-day public event at the newly opened European headquarters in Venice’s Palazzo Diedo, brought together leading thinkers, scientists, and policymakers. The summit engaged in urgent dialogues on the emerging paradigm of The Planetary—a concept that challenges anthropocentric worldviews and calls for new frameworks of governance, knowledge, and action at planetary scale. Over the course of two days, discussions explored the establishment of the planetary as a category of thought, the implications of extra-human and extra-planetary perspectives, and the evolving role of planetary sapience enabled by technology. Participants grappled with the limits of current governance structures and the urgent need for new planetary coordination and action. The summit also examined planetary pragmatism in an era of crisis, asking how institutions and epistemologies might be rethought to address challenges that transcend borders, species, and political systems. The Planetary Summit 2024 marked a landmark moment in the study and practice of planetarity, bringing into focus the intersections of science, philosophy, and politics. As climate change, technological acceleration, and global interdependencies render traditional governance structures insufficient, the need for new planetary institutions and ways of thinking becomes ever more pressing. More than just a conversation, the summit served as a call to rethink how the planet is understood, inhabited, and shaped.