Dialog (organization)
 | |
| Formation | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Type | Private, invitation-only society |
| Purpose | Off-the-record forum for executives, elected officials, and academics |
Region served | International |
| Members | Invitation-only |
Executive director | Raffi Grinberg[1] |
| Website | https://dialog.org/ |
Dialog is a private, invitation-only society, sometimes compared to Bilderberg and the World Economic Forum.[2] Forbes describes it as "Bilderberg [...] meets Silicon Valley salon."[3] The organization was founded by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman.[2] It maintains a low public profile (without a website accessible to public or officially disclosed membership), and is described as a closed-door meeting that brings together executives, elected officials, and academics.[2][4] It also offers a matchmaking service that pairs single members with each other.[5][6]
The organization has been criticized for elitism and for prompting conspiratorial speculation, given its invitation-only format and limited public information.[4] Others have defended the Dialog gatherings as a space for thinkers to authentically express themselves without fear of reprisals.[7]
Membership and retreats
[edit]Membership and participation in Dialog retreats are by invitation only.[8] With membership comes invitations to private dinners at the homes of other members worldwide, concierge services, group chats, and global excursions. Retreats often include about 200 people who may be members, guests, or speakers. The retreats usually last several days.[5] Since the beginning, there have been around 2,500 participants in annual events, among them more than 1,000 paying members, according to internal documents.[5]
According to leaked information, Dialog staff and their artificial intelligence tools create dossiers on every member and potential member, and assign them a grade reflecting their desirability to Dialog: a grade C is given to the most famous and influential, A is assigned to established members who are less notable, while most people receive a B grade. The dossiers also include notes about assets under management, a score from 1–4 for how much value the person added to Dialog, who can be trusted to moderate discussions, and notes about how well they fit in during previous events. They also track every person's political leanings, occasionally changing them from what the person stated about themselves.[5]
The amount a person pays to attend a Dialog retreat depends on the grades in their dossier: lower-graded people usually pay full-price (which can be more than $10,000), and higher-graded people are given discounts.[5] Previous events have been held at the Bacara Resort in California,[9] Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Arizona and the San Clemente Palace in Venice, Italy. These gatherings are off the record and emphasize candid discussion across political viewpoints.[10]
According to Axios, participants discuss topics reportedly ranging from AI, health care, and politics to personal themes such as caregiving, relationships, mental health, and the afterlife.[2] There are no speakers or panel discussions, but exclusively moderated discussion rounds in small groups of eight to twelve participants.[11]
About 10 percent of respondents opt for being placed in a pool of singles. Dialog staff, with assistance from algorithm tools, pair members with each other. Leaked information shows that Dialog also keeps a list of people who should not be paired, because they are spouses or professional associates. Members are also barred from being paired with Dialog's organizers and staff.[5]
Participants
[edit]Analyst Gerardo Spagnuolo of NATO Defense College Foundation (a NATO-recognized[12] think tank associated with NDC[13]) notes that the participants include "bi-partisan, albeit heavily libertarian-leaning", representation from US congressional and senatorial figures, intelligence and defense officials, and European leaders who are concerned with digital sovereignty, together with thinkers such as psychologists and logicians.[14] According to Spagnuolo, the core of the gathering is "the architects of the new defence and Artificial Intelligence industries", who are named as Palmer Luckey, Alex Karp, Elon Musk and representatives of Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, who back dual use technologies.[14] Wired writes that what ties the participants together is not titles or occupations, but "a shared preoccupation with artificial intelligence, longevity, and the near future". The publication notes that the participants, among whom there are many actors and best-selling authors, are coached to avoid "status signalling". Participants are distinguished as "active member" and "guest".[15]
A Dialog delegation sent to Pakistan to meet with the country's officials in November 2025 was noted to include Ali Jehangir Siddiqui (leader of the delegation), Simon Stevens, Veit Dengler, Yasmin Green, Fatima Kardar (Vice President at Xbox-Microsoft), Shadi Martini (CEO of MultiFaith Alliance), Evan Marwell, and Himanshu Gulati among others.[16][17]
Planned campus
[edit]In 2025, Dialog purchased land near the Washington, D.C. area for a planned campus.[18]
Spagnuolo observes that the gathering has a focus on military matters and artificial intelligence, which can possibly emphasize efficiency over democratic oversight. The analyst also connects the planned 2026 establishment of the Virginia campus (in vicinity of Langley and the Pentagon) with Dialog's transition from its nomadic phase to an institutional phase, noting the role of the Thiel Foundation.[14]
2026 leak
[edit]In June 2026, two pieces of information were leaked: a directory on the Dialog website, and registration records for Dialog's planned 2026 retreat in Dublin.
The code for the Dialog website had an unprotected list of 113 people labeled "Directory List", and this was initially reported as a membership directory. Later reporting stated that the list included non-members, event speakers, and outside guests from years past.[5][15] Hacktivist maia arson crimew, following an anonymous tip, revealed the website was misconfigured and publicly displaying private member information.
Separately, other records and documents were leaked to reporters. These records show 222 people signed up to attend the 2026 retreat. Of that group, 87 are first-time attendees, while others have been attending since the organization's beginning 20 years ago.[15] The people who registered for the event may be full members, guests of members, or people leading the conference sessions.[19] This leak also included member and potential-member dossiers, and packets that listed topics for discussion in 2026, such as:[15][20]
- "Money (Does?) Buy Happiness"
- "Bring Back Nuclear"
- "Navigating WW III"
- "Battlefield Technologies"
- "How's Your Sex Life?"
- "Build-a-Cult (Soapbox)" (moderated by a founder of Pray.com)[20]
- "Build-a-Party" (moderated by a former White House national security official)
- "It's Fun to Be in Charge"[20]
The aftermath of the leak disclosure prompted public responses from several Hollywood figures recorded on attendee list, including Joseph Gordon‑Levitt, Sophia Bush, and Josh Brolin among others. They noted the political controversy surrounding the members of the secretive group, and emphasized that they don’t know Thiel, never met him, or had only attended Dialog events out of personal business interest.[21][22]
The Powerscourt Estate, which was reserved for the 2026 retreat, issued a statement that they wanted to cancel the event, but were unable to per ownership by MHL Hotel Group. Local elected officials began investigating if they can bar the retreat from Ireland.[23]
The Danish TV 2 News notes that it is common for participants to observe that they went, but did not meet Thiel.[24] Some people defend Dialog and their participation in the events. Danish minister of health and ecclesiastical affairs Ida Auken, who confirms her participation in the 2026 event, writes that she disagrees with what Thiel stands for, but considers Dialog as "a large conference that includes participants from across the political spectrum, business and organizations from all over the world with the express purpose of meeting people with very different backgrounds."[24] [7] General Stanley A. McChrystal, who attended two events "about a decade ago", said that, "My experience was all positive — a gathering of thoughtful people across the political spectrum… and in my memory the gathering discussed almost every kind of subject but politics. Non-attribution was applied simply to encourage candor."[7]
Some publications reported that the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was invited to the 2014 meeting. Wired and The Guardian later retracted this information, noting that the invitation letter from Auren Hoffman was sent to the scientist Lisa Randall, and the person named Jeff Epstein in the attached list of attendees was a former Oracle executive.[15][25][26]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Grinberg, Raffi. "Perspective: What people get wrong about political polarization". Deseret News.
- ^ a b c d Allen, Mike (August 7, 2025). "Scoop: Dialog, a secretive forum, plans D.C.-area campus". Axios. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
- ^ Roeloffs, Mary Whitfill (June 18, 2026). "What We Know About Peter Thiel's Secret Society 'Dialog'—And Who's In It". Forbes.
- ^ a b Ropek, Lucas (August 7, 2025). "Secretive, Peter Thiel-Founded 'Tech Bilderberg' Group Is Moving Up in the World". Gizmodo. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cameron, Dell; Mehrotra, Dhruv; Almazova, Yulia (June 18, 2026). "How the Peter Thiel-Linked Dialog Club Secretly Ranks Its Members". Wired (magazine).
- ^ "Data leak unmasks members of Peter Thiel's elite, secretive 'Dialog' society". The Washington Times. June 18, 2026.
- ^ a b c Ramsey, Michael (June 20, 2026). "Peter Thiel 'Dialog' retreats: Meeting of great minds or secret cabal?".
- ^ Çanakcı, Beril (June 17, 2026). "Secretive elite group linked to billionaire Peter Thiel exposed in data leak: Report". Anadolu Agency.
- ^ Gelman, Andrew (February 16, 2022). "Hey! I got an exclusive invitation to this off-the-record conference . . . but I think I'll take 3515 Jamaican beef patties instead". statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
- ^ Allen, Mike (August 7, 2025). "Axios AM". Axios. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
- ^ Mueller-Töwe, Jonas (June 18, 2026). "Spahn besucht seit Jahren diskrete Treffen von Peter Thiel". t-online (in German).
- ^ Brasioli, Diego; Guercio, Laura; Landini, Giovanna Gnerre; Giorgio, Andrea de (May 15, 2025). The Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and International Relations. Taylor & Francis. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-040-34100-1.
- ^ "About Us". NATO Defence College Foundation. July 1, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^ a b c Spagnuolo, Gerardo. "Dialog on AI systems: shifting warfare and powers" (PDF). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^ a b c d e Cameron, Dell; Almazova, Yulia (June 16, 2026). "Leak Exposes Members of Peter Thiel's Secretive 'Dialog' Society". Wired (magazine).
- ^ News Desk (November 18, 2025). "FM meets Dialog's delegation". NewzShewz. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
- ^ "Aurangzeb holds strategic briefing with Dialog delegation". Brecorder. November 18, 2025.
- ^ Jones, Rachyl (August 8, 2025). "Private club founded by Peter Thiel, Auren Hoffman eyes campus near DC". Semafor.
- ^ Midlane, Tom (June 17, 2026). "Peter Thiel's Super-Secret Society Exposed Through Data Leak". Novara Media.
- ^ a b c Thalen, Mikael (June 17, 2026). "Peter Thiel's 'Dialog' network was super-secret. A data leak changed that". Straight Arrow.
- ^ Lindsay, Benjamin (June 18, 2026). "Joseph Gordon-Levitt Addresses Ties to Peter Thiel's Secret Society: 'There Were a Wide Variety of People'". The Wrap. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ^ Dolak, Kevin (June 19, 2026). "Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sophia Bush Defend Ties to Peter Thiel's Secretive Dialog Group". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ^ Harte, John (June 22, 2026). "Calls for Conference Backed By US Billionaire Peter Thiel To Be Blocked From Wicklow". East Coast FM.
- ^ a b Oien, Maria (June 21, 2026). "Dansk minister optræder på liste i hemmelig milliardærklub - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish).
- ^ Bovermann, Philipp (June 18, 2026). "Leak von Netzwerk "Dialog": Spahn und Thiel hatten ein Geheimnis". Süddeutsche.de (in German).
- ^ Wilson, Jason (June 20, 2026). "Key Trump allies and Musk on leaked list for secretive Peter Thiel retreat". The Guardian (in German).
