A major data leak has exposed the membership and internal activities of Dialog, a secretive invitation-only network that brings together influential figures from US politics, finance, national security and Silicon Valley.
The organisation was co-founded in 2006 by billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel and has spent two decades refusing to disclose its membership or details of its closed-door retreats.
According to WIRED, internal records discovered online revealed personal information about participants, while a separate leaked registration list named 222 people connected to Dialog’s 2026 gathering.
The retreat is scheduled to take place from August 12 to 16 at a resort near Dublin, Ireland. The records classify participants as active members, guests and first-time attendees, although inclusion on the registration list does not necessarily confirm attendance.
The leaked agenda includes provocative sessions titled “Navigating WWIII,” “Build-a-Cult” and “How’s Your Sex Life?” Other discussions reportedly cover nuclear power, battlefield technology, artificial intelligence, political organising and whether money can buy happiness.
One session on building a religious movement is due to be led by the founder of Christian social platform Pray.com, while another on establishing a political party is linked to a former White House national security official.
The documents reveal an unusually close intersection between government officials responsible for regulation and technology executives whose companies handle vast quantities of personal, financial and security data.
Among the prominent names reportedly appearing in the records is General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of the US European Command. The documents suggest he has participated in Dialog gatherings since 2021.
The leaked records also list US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
They appear alongside Dialog chairman Auren Hoffman, who founded location-data company SafeGraph and identity-data firm LiveRamp, and Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of Palantir.
Palantir supplies data-management systems to the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The presence of government officials alongside executives from companies operating in sectors they oversee has raised questions about transparency, access and potential conflicts of interest.
From Elon Musk to foreign diplomats
The exposed records appear to cover two overlapping but distinct groups: a historical directory containing at least 113 names and a separate list of 222 people registered for the August 2026 retreat. A name appearing in either dataset does not necessarily prove current membership or confirmed attendance.
Names reported across the leaked records include Elon Musk, Senators Cory Booker and Ted Cruz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, former US commander Stanley McChrystal, private-equity billionaire Henry Kravis and Saudi Ambassador to Washington Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.
European political figures reportedly named include German lawmaker Jens Spahn, British MP Tom Tugendhat, Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. However, the European Commission said Kallas was not a Dialog member and would not attend the August retreat, illustrating the need to distinguish between being listed, being invited and actually participating.
The records also reportedly contain entertainment and media figures including Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sophia Bush, music executive Scooter Braun, Atlantic chief executive Nick Thompson and New York Times columnist Ezra Klein.
Palantir oversight questions
The most significant accountability issue may involve officials responsible for overseeing agencies that award major contracts to Palantir and other data companies.
Representative Jim Himes, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, appears in the historical directory. His committee oversees intelligence and national-security agencies that use Palantir technology. Himes has since said he attended one Dialog gathering approximately a decade ago but has had no subsequent involvement.
The Department of Homeland Security, another institution subject to congressional oversight, reportedly holds Palantir contracts valued at about $167 million. This creates a legitimate public-interest question about whether private, off-the-record relationships provide technology contractors with access unavailable to competitors or the public.
A network spanning politics, intelligence and culture
WIRED says the directory includes six members of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” a former Middle East intelligence chief, a serving ambassador to Washington, religious leaders, hedge-fund billionaires, actors, writers and senior university figures.
The leaked material therefore depicts Dialog as more than an annual conference. It appears to function as a private relationship-building network connecting political authority, military power, intelligence, technology, finance, media and popular culture.
That does not prove coordination, misconduct or a common political programme. However, its secrecy, the absence of official email accounts and the presence of regulators alongside executives operating in industries they oversee raise substantial transparency and conflict-of-interest questions.
Also correct one detail in the existing article: Souad Mekhennet is a former Washington Post employee, not a current correspondent. WIRED updated that point on June 18.
And I would soften “preparing for World War III.” The leaked title was “Navigating WWIII.” That is extraordinary enough without claiming the session was literally planning a war.
None of the government participants reportedly registered using an official email address. Instead, they used private or corporate accounts, potentially placing communications relating to the event beyond government email systems covered by public-records laws.
The leak also exposed members’ predictions about artificial intelligence and the near future. Participants reportedly anticipated that AI would transform employment, warfare, education and religion, while some warned of mass job losses, attacks against data centres or a possible “AI winter” following declining investment and public confidence.
Dialog also appears to operate a private matchmaking service promising “meaningful connections for exceptional people.” Registration forms collected sensitive information, including political views and romantic preferences, despite assurances that the details would remain confidential.
Other figures identified in the leaked records reportedly include former Federal Reserve governor Randall Kroszner, Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt, executives connected to Google and DeepMind, and former Washington Post journalist Souad Mekhennet.
The exposure resulted from an apparently basic security failure. A membership directory was embedded in the source code of Dialog’s largely empty website and could reportedly be accessed by anyone examining the page.
The directory was discovered by Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew after receiving an anonymous tip. Crimew previously helped expose a copy of the US government’s No Fly List and participated in the breach of surveillance-camera company Verkada.
Dialog has previously been compared to a technology-industry version of the Bilderberg meetings, bringing powerful political and corporate figures together under strict confidentiality rules.
Past retreats have taken place at luxury resorts in Arizona and Venice. Registration reportedly exceeded $16,000 during at least one previous year.
Neither Dialog executive director Raffi Grinberg nor the individuals contacted about their inclusion in the records responded to WIRED’s requests for comment.
