by Editor BGF | Apr 19, 2026 | News
The America at 250 Conference brings together distinguished leaders, scholars, innovators, and AI pioneers whose work has shaped democracy, public life, science, technology, and the future of humanity. At this historic moment marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, these speakers represent not only excellence in their fields, but also a shared commitment to trust, human dignity, democratic values, and responsible leadership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Together, their voices help frame a forward-looking dialogue on how America and the democratic world can lead with wisdom, innovation, and responsibility in shaping the AI Age.
Governor Michael S. Dukakis
Governor Michael S. Dukakis is one of America’s most respected public leaders, known for his lifelong commitment to democratic governance, public service, and civic responsibility. As co-author of America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age, his remarks bring historical depth, moral clarity, and public leadership to the conference.
Jason Carter
Jason Carter serves as the symbolic representative receiving the 2026 World Leader for Peace and Security Award on behalf of the leaders of the United States. His special remarks, “America as a Moral Beacon: Continuing the Carter Legacy of Peace, Human Rights, and Trusted Innovation in the Age of AI,” connect the ethical tradition of American leadership with the challenges of the AI Age.
Vint Cerf
Vint Cerf serves as the symbolic representative receiving the 2026 World Leader for Peace and Security Award on behalf of the American people. A pioneering figure of the digital age, he brings exceptional authority to the conference through his remarks on “Building Information Trust Infrastructure for the AI Age.”
Cynthia Dwork
A pioneering scholar in computer science and one of the foundational figures behind differential privacy, Cynthia Dwork delivers the acceptance speech on behalf of the honorees of America at 250: AI Pioneers. Her remarks, “From Differential Privacy to Trust Infrastructure: Building Trustworthy AI for Democracy,” highlight the deep connection between technical rigor and democratic trust.
Regina Barzilay
Regina Barzilay is a leading voice in the application of AI to healthcare and high-stakes human systems. In Panel 1, she speaks on “Trustworthy AI in Healthcare and High-Stakes Human Systems,” bringing an essential perspective on how trust must be built where human lives are directly affected.
Cynthia Breazeal
A pioneer in human-centered AI and social robotics, Cynthia Breazeal has helped define how intelligent systems can interact with people in ways that strengthen connection and social trust. In Panel 1, she speaks on “Human-Centered AI and Social Trust in the Age of Intelligent Systems.”
Alex Pentland
Alex Pentland is one of the world’s most influential thinkers on human-centered technology, social systems, and data-driven trust. In Panel 1, he speaks on “Building Human-Centered Trust Infrastructure for the AI Age,” offering a major perspective on how trust can be designed into systems, institutions, and civic life.
Daphne Koller
Daphne Koller, joining by video, is one of the most accomplished pioneers in artificial intelligence, machine learning, education, and AI-driven health innovation. Her remarks, “From Probabilistic AI to Trusted Information Infrastructure,” offer a powerful perspective on trustworthy information systems and human-centered AI.
Herbert Lin
Herbert Lin brings deep expertise on the intersection of technology, national security, and information integrity. In Panel 2, he speaks on “From Influence Operations to Information Trust Infrastructure: Building Resilience in the AI Age,” addressing the urgent need for democratic resilience in an era of manipulation and misinformation.
Sherry Turkle
A renowned scholar of technology and human relationships, Sherry Turkle has spent decades examining how digital systems affect conversation, empathy, identity, and trust. In Panel 2, she speaks on “Human Relationships, Conversation, and Trust in the Age of AI,” bringing a vital human and cultural dimension to the conference.
Thomas E. Patterson
A distinguished scholar of American politics, media, and democracy, Thomas E. Patterson brings longstanding intellectual leadership on the institutions and values that sustain democratic society. He delivers the Opening Remarks and serves as Moderator of Panel 1, “AIWS Trust Infrastructure for the AI Age,” helping set the tone for the conference’s central discussion on trust, governance, and democratic responsibility.
Nguyen Anh Tuan
Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO of the Boston Global Forum, is a visionary thinker at the intersection of technology, governance, and human values. He presents the book America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age, introduces the vision and implementation pathway of the AIWS Trust Architecture, and leads the recognition of the America at 250: AI Pioneers.
Roland Schatz
A leading figure in media intelligence and international public communication analysis, Roland Schatz serves as Moderator of Panel 2, “AIWS Information Trust Infrastructure for the AI Age.” He brings a global perspective to the challenge of building trusted information systems in a world shaped by AI and media disruption.
Ramu Damodaran
With deep international experience in diplomacy, multilateral dialogue, and global governance, Ramu Damodaran presents the Beacon Declaration and Beacon Process. His role helps place the founding of the AIWS Trust Infrastructure and the AIWS Information Trust Infrastructure in a broader international and civilizational context.
Yasuhide Nakayama
Yasuhide Nakayama, Member of the National Diet of Japan and Director, LDP Global South, brings an important democratic and international voice to the conference. His commitment to accompany and help implement the Beacon Declaration reflects the growing importance of cooperation among democratic nations in shaping trust, governance, and responsibility for the AI Age.
by Editor BGF | Apr 19, 2026 | News
The chapter on AIWS Education is one of the most distinctive and forward-looking parts of America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age, because it does not discuss education merely as a policy sector. Instead, it redefines education as a vital foundation for democracy and for human development in the Age of AI.
The first special feature of this chapter is that it looks beyond the traditional model of schools, classrooms, age brackets, and examinations. AIWS Education is presented as an ecosystem of joyful lifelong learning — learning that is joyful, lifelong, human-centered, and available 24/7 throughout the whole of life. This is a profoundly new way of thinking: in the Age of AI, education is no longer a stage of preparation for life, but an inseparable part of life itself.
The second special feature is that the chapter connects education with human dignity, joy in living, mental well-being, culture, creativity, and community. It does not treat education merely as an instrument for producing workforce skills, but as a pathway for helping human beings develop in a whole and balanced way, preserve their identity, strengthen their capacity for judgment, and live responsibly in a world increasingly shaped by AI.
The third distinctive contribution is the introduction of AIWS Angel as a new figure and a new architecture for education in the AI Age. AIWS Angel is not imagined as a machine that replaces the teacher, but as a humanistic AI Agent that accompanies each learner, supports personalized learning, nurtures inspiration, expands knowledge, and helps every individual grow according to their own rhythm, circumstances, and aspirations. This is one of the chapter’s most original contributions: bringing AI into education not to mechanize human beings, but to liberate human potential.
Another important point is that the chapter on AIWS Education does not stand alone. It is closely connected to the book’s broader vision of America at 250. If the United States is to remain a beacon for the AI Age, it cannot lead only in technology; it must also lead in preparing human beings for the new era. For that reason, AIWS Education is presented as a strategic answer: if democracy is to remain strong, if the economy is to remain creative, and if society is to remain trustworthy, then a new form of education appropriate to the AI Age must be built first.
In other words, what makes this chapter so special is that it does not merely propose educational reform; it proposes a new philosophy of education for AI civilization. It is education for humanity, for democracy, for the joy of learning, for creativity, and for the ability of every person to continue developing throughout life. That is what makes the chapter on AIWS Education one of the most humane, profound, and distinctive chapters in America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age.
by Editor BGF | Apr 19, 2026 | News
In the Age of Artificial Intelligence, humanity’s greatest challenge is not only to create ever more powerful technologies, but also to build a culture deep enough to guide those technologies in the service of human beings. From this understanding, the AI World Society (AIWS) has developed the AIWS Cultural Framework as a living architecture of values, symbols, and practices that binds the power of technology to the most enduring spiritual qualities of humankind. For AIWS, culture is not something decorative that merely accompanies technology; culture is a form of governance.
This cultural framework is built upon three core qualities: Warmth–Love, Creativity, and Nobility. These are the qualities AIWS seeks to cultivate in every leader, innovator, scholar, and citizen within its extended family. Warmth–Love enables people to encounter one another not as data or users, but as members of one shared human family. Creativity, in the spirit of AIWS, is not novelty for novelty’s sake, but noble creativity that expands human dignity. Nobility is the capacity to choose the higher path, even when the lower path would be easier, with a character that is honest, elevated, and kind.
These three qualities are expressed through three symbols that together form a complete architecture of AIWS culture: Hồn Trà as the foundation, Mai Vàng as the heart, and the Bald Eagle as the spirit. Hồn Trà symbolizes stillness, contemplation, and wisdom; Mai Vàng symbolizes warmth, trust, joy, and renewal; and the Bald Eagle symbolizes creativity, a will that overcomes storms, and far vision at elevation. These three symbols do not stand apart; they complement one another as three inseparable dimensions of a complete AIWS character.
Among them, Hồn Trà serves as the cultural foundation. It is a contemplative ritual through the savoring of Cao Trà — crystals of concentrated tea essence from ancient tea trees in the high mountains of Vietnam — in deep stillness. Through this ritual, the AIWS member returns to an inner state in which clarity, love, and noble ideas may arise. Hồn Trà not only nurtures stillness and clarity, but also plants within the practitioner the qualities of optimism, joy, love, and the turning of thought toward what is noble.
Accompanying Hồn Trà is Mai Vàng, the symbol of a heart that is warm, loving, honest, trustworthy, and always capable of renewal. The AIWS Cultural Framework expresses this relationship in a beautiful formula: “Hồn Trà plants, Mai Vàng holds.” Hồn Trà plants good qualities in the moment of contemplation; Mai Vàng keeps those qualities present and alive in daily life, in work, in dialogue, and in action. If Hồn Trà is inner depth, then Mai Vàng is the radiance of a warm heart in the world.
The third symbol, the Bald Eagle, carries the spirit of AIWS as it enters the work of shaping the AI Age. It represents the spirit of creativity at elevation, of a courageous will that overcomes storms, and of far vision. The Bald Eagle reminds us that in the AI Age, leaders and builders of the future cannot merely react to disruption; they must rise above the daily flood of information, look ahead across decades, and transform crises and storms into lift — so that they may rise higher, go farther, and create from a nobler vantage point. The inclusion of the Bald Eagle in the AIWS Cultural Framework also carries deep symbolic meaning: it represents the meeting of the American democratic tradition and the contemplative depth and human warmth of Vietnamese cultural heritage.
What is especially distinctive about the AIWS Cultural Framework is that it does not stop at symbols or aesthetics; it moves into practice. This framework is expressed in conferences, honor ceremonies, visual identity, leadership selection, and the daily life of the AIWS family. A branch of Mai Vàng, an image of the Bald Eagle, or a box of Cao Trà in one’s workspace is not merely decoration, but a reminder that helps each member return to the core values of AIWS amid the rhythm of everyday life.
Ultimately, the AIWS Cultural Framework conveys a clear message: the future of AI cannot be shaped by intelligence alone; it must also be guided by wisdom and love. Hồn Trà offers stillness and depth; Mai Vàng sustains a warm and trustworthy heart; and the Bald Eagle lifts human beings through creativity, will, and far vision from a higher vantage point. Together, these three symbols form a distinctive cultural contribution of AIWS to humanity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
by Editor BGF | Apr 19, 2026 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan, is a prominent leader whose vision combines economic security, technological innovation, and regional cooperation in Asia. Most recently, she has advanced a new initiative aimed at strengthening Asia’s resilience in the face of energy shocks, while also announcing a $10 billion financial support package to help ASEAN countries and other Asian partners secure oil supplies, strengthen reserves, and reinforce the resilience of regional supply chains. This initiative reflects her broader approach: Japan should not only protect its own national interests, but also play a proactive role in strengthening “Asia’s power” through strategic cooperation, resilience, and regional stability.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japan-plans-10-billion-framework-help-asia-secure-oil-2026-04-15/
by Editor BGF | Apr 19, 2026 | World Leader for Peace and Security, News, World Leaders in AIWS Award Updates
Nguyen Anh Tuan
Today, as America approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, we gather not only to commemorate a great nation’s history, but to honor the extraordinary individuals whose work has helped shape its future.
With deep admiration, the Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society proudly honor the 50 America at 250: AI Pioneers.
These are not only brilliant scientists, inventors, and innovators. They are also visionary business leaders, policymakers, and public thinkers who have helped guide the development of technology in service of society, democracy, and humanity.
They are builders of a new age.
They helped build the foundations of the digital era — and from those foundations, they opened the path to the AI Age.
They advanced the Internet, the great network that transformed how humanity connects, learns, works, creates, and shares knowledge across borders and generations.
They advanced the defining fields of our time: machine learning, deep learning, probabilistic AI, privacy-preserving systems, robotics, human-centered AI, and trustworthy systems.
They opened new frontiers for AI in healthcare, education, science, economics, and public life.
And they helped ensure that the most powerful technologies of our time are guided not only by performance and scale, but by trust, fairness, accountability, transparency, privacy, and human dignity.
This is why their work carries such historic significance.
They did not merely make technology more powerful.
They helped make it more meaningful.
They did not merely accelerate innovation.
They helped define the principles by which innovation should serve society.
They did not merely change what machines can do.
They helped change what humanity can become.
Because of pioneers such as these, America has not only remained a center of scientific and technological strength.
It has also remained a center of creative leadership, democratic possibility, and responsibility to the world.
At this America at 250 moment, we honor them not only for what they have achieved, but for what they have made possible:
A stronger America.
A more innovative America.
A more trusted America.
And, we hope, a more responsible America in service to humanity.
In honoring these 50 AI Pioneers, we also affirm something larger:
That the future will not be shaped by intelligence alone.
It will be shaped by those who bring intelligence together with wisdom.
By those who unite discovery with responsibility.
By those who ensure that power serves human dignity.
That is why these honorees matter so much.
They are not only pioneers of technology.
They are pioneers of possibility.
They help illuminate the path on which America can continue to lead — not only with innovation, but with trust; not only with power, but with moral purpose.
And today, as we honor these remarkable pioneers, we also express a heartfelt hope: that in the next chapter of America’s journey, and in the next chapter of humanity’s journey, these 50 AI Pioneers will continue to make great contributions to the United States and to the world.
The Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society would be deeply honored to accompany them on that continuing journey — to help connect, convene, and bring together the collective strength, wisdom, and vision of these 50 extraordinary individuals for the road ahead.
On behalf of the Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society, I offer our deepest respect, our warmest congratulations, and our heartfelt gratitude to the 50 America at 250: AI Pioneers.
You helped build the digital foundations of our era.
You helped open the path from the Internet Age to the AI Age.
You helped define the standards by which the future should be built.
And you have helped illuminate a path forward for America — and for humanity.
Congratulations to the 50 America at 250: AI Pioneers.
