At the America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age Conference, held on May 1, 2026, at Harvard University’s Loeb House, Vint Cerf accepted the 2026 World Leader for Peace and Security Award as the symbolic representative of the American people. The award honored the leaders of the United States and the American people for their enduring contributions to peace, security, innovation, democratic values, and human progress.
Widely known as one of the “Fathers of the Internet” and co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols, Vint Cerf represented the creativity, openness, civic spirit, and technological imagination of America in the digital age. His remarks, titled “Building Information Trust Infrastructure for Democracy in the AI Age,” connected America’s 250-year legacy with one of the most urgent challenges of the future: how to build trusted information systems in a world transformed by artificial intelligence.
Cerf’s message carried special meaning for the Boston Global Forum and AI World Society. Having previously been honored by BGF in 2019 as a World Leader in AIWS, he has long embodied the principle that technology must serve humanity with responsibility, openness, and wisdom.
His acceptance speech reinforced a central theme of the conference and the book America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age: America’s leadership in the AI Age must be measured not only by innovation, but by its capacity to build trust, defend truth, protect human dignity, and strengthen democratic society.
Vint Cerf’s remarks helped elevate the May 1 conference from a celebration of America’s past into a call for action: to build AIWS Information Trust Infrastructure as a foundation for peace, security, and a more trustworthy civilization in the AI Age.
Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdlwPyF5wI
