For years, billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has led a members-only group that few people outside its circles knew existed. The group, called “Dialog,” has been holding closed-door retreats where tech executives, financiers, government officials, and other high-profile figures meet to talk freely, away from public scrutiny.
The organization operates strictly by invitation. Members gather at private retreats and have reportedly been assured that what happens there stays private. That promise, however, recently fell apart.
According to reporting by Wired, a large collection of internal records tied to Dialog leaked, exposing the names, personal details, and private information of hundreds of members and past attendees.
What the Leak Revealed
The leaked documents covered a wide range of sensitive material. They included members’ political affiliations, their personal predictions about the future of artificial intelligence, and even matchmaking preferences, because Dialog, it turns out, also functions as a kind of high-end matchmaking network.
Attendees were reportedly asked whether they were “looking for love” and given the option to join a network built around fostering connections among, as the group described it, exceptional people.
The records also listed members’ self-described personal talents. The answers ranged from the practical, like backcountry skiing, to the unusual, including one person who listed “compassion and existential dread” as their skill.
This Summer’s Agenda
The program for Dialog’s upcoming retreat, scheduled for August 12 to 16 outside Dublin, Ireland, was among the materials exposed. The session titles alone raised eyebrows.
Planned discussions include one called “How’s Your Sex Life?,” another titled “Build-a-Cult,” and a third focused on “Navigating WWIII.” The mix of personal, philosophical, and geopolitical topics reflects what appears to be Dialog’s broader purpose: getting powerful people to speak candidly about things they would never say in public.
Who Was on the List?
The registration list for the 2026 retreat reportedly named 222 attendees, sorted by membership category. Among them were senior executives from Google and DeepMind, hedge fund billionaires, bestselling authors, and religious leaders, according to Wired.
The list also included elected officials. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut were both named in the leaked directory, as was Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
What Members Predicted
Participants in Dialog were apparently asked to share their predictions about the future. Many focused on artificial intelligence and where it is headed.
Some foresaw widespread job losses driven by automation. Others predicted an “AI winter,” a period where progress in the field stalls or reverses. A few went further, forecasting domestic terrorism aimed at data centers, and at least some members predicted that the disruption caused by new technology could spark a religious revival.
Where Thiel Himself Stands
The topics at the center of Dialog’s gatherings closely mirror concerns that Thiel has spoken about publicly for years. He has warned that fears about existential threats, things like AI catastrophe or nuclear war, could be used to justify extreme concentrations of power, including what he has described as a “one-world” government.
Those concerns appear to extend beyond words. The New York Times reported, and the New York Post also covered, that Thiel recently moved his family to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reasons cited included concerns about taxes, political instability, the risk of nuclear conflict, and the potential for an AI-driven societal collapse.
Thiel obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2011 and has reportedly looked into citizenship options in other countries as well, part of what critics describe as a long-running effort to build a personal safety net against large-scale global disruption.