Bilderberg 2018 starts today: Artificial intelligence and quantum computers on the agenda

The 66th annual meeting of the secretive Bilderberg Group starts today in the city of Torino, Italy.
Among the 131 attendees, powerful names of the financial and industrial sectors as well as a great number of politicians, among them the infamous 95-years old Henry Kissinger. The full list of participants can be found here.

One interesting name is that of John Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor, rumored to be a potential contender in the 2020 US presidential elections. Worth keeping an eye on this guy as this would not be the first time a future president of the US presents his credentials at a Bilderberg meeting. In June 2008, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama ditched their respective entourages and had a secret meeting in a location very close to Chantilly, Virginia, where the Bilderberg meeting was taking place. It is widely believed the two made their way to the Bilderberg meeting – and a couple of days later Hillary dropped out of the race. On the other hand, let's not forget there are two more Bilderberg meetings scheduled before the 2020 elections – anything can happen.
As usual, the meeting takes place far away from the prying eyes of the media. The few journalists invited are allowed to write about the discussions, without identifying the speakers or indeed their political orientation. No word on the vetting process these journalists are subjected to, but obviously they have to be trustworthy.

The talks will focus on the main political problems of the moment, from the situation in the Middle East to Donald Trump and America's leadership role. The rise of populism in Europe is also on the agenda, which is quite ironic, since the host country, Italy has just elected a populist government. The world's most influential people will also discuss artificial intelligence and quantum computers, which should be an indicator for all of us as to the importance of these two subjects.

So many powerful people and so many important topics – yet, nobody will hear a word about the actual talks. Asked about this, Bilderberg president Henri de Castries downplayed the importance of the talks: 'It's only ideas, nothing to report on. That's why people like to speculate'. Moreover, according to de Castries the people's lack of interest in the subject is the reason there's so little media coverage of the event.

'For many decades, until the 1990's, each year we had a press conference, but due to the lack of interest the practice has been suspended', de Castries told 'Corriere della Sera'.
I don't know what the papers wrote about Bilderberg in the 1970s or 1980s, but it seems strange the group became even more secretive in the 1990s, the decade that saw the Internet take over the world. It's very easy to control what a few papers write, but much more difficult to control the numerous sites dedicated to exposing this group that operates behind the scenes.
It would be childish to believe that secret decisions that influence the world are only made at such meetings. Let's not kid ourselves these people can meet and communicate in much more discreet circumstances and surroundings. Not to mention that, looking over the list of attendees a lot of important names are missing. No Gates, no Buffett, no Soros, no Kock brothers, no Bezos and so on.
However, the fact that ministers, presidents and CEOs of large corporations take time off their business schedule to attend a four-day meeting means that the event is more important than a mere exchange of ideas. In his brief and bland interview, Henri de Castries made a point of giving assurances 'no decision are taken' at the meeting. Interesting choice of words – for, as far as I know, the Bilderberg Group is an informal organization with no official powers whatsoever. They're not supposed to be making decisions of any kind. Why than the need to deny making decisions?

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