Peter Leyden

Thought leader on the future

Peter Leyden is a longtime tech expert and thought leader on the future. He came to San Francisco to work with the founders of WIRED magazine at the beginning of the digital revolution and has followed the front edge of technological change every step since—including into the AI revolution today.

In addition to being an influential writer and author, Leyden is a keynote speaker who has explained the implications of new technologies and the positive possibilities to come to audiences throughout America and Europe on a monthly basis over the last 25 years.

Leyden also founded several startups that pioneered fields transformed by new technologies and currently advises senior leaders in strategic foresight through his company Reinvent Futures. Get more on all of this on his website.

Everything Videos Articles

The China factor in the great progression of the next 25 years

A firsthand look at China’s material progress and clean-tech revolution -- and what could happen if we let an authoritarian state steer AI's future.

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History & Society

The arc of human history is toward cooperation, not division

Globalization did not fail — it improved the lives of billions of people. The next phase of human development could push us to a new level of global abundance.

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Business

AI could trigger the biggest productivity boom ever

Higher productivity drives increases in wealth, wages, and living standards. AI could be just what we need to solve many of today’s problems — if we manage the gains wisely.

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How bioengineering will help save the planet

New biotech tools could clean up everything from construction to agriculture.

The Golden Gate Bridge is shown in a halftone style, with its left side tinted red and right side tinted blue, against a light background with hills.

The politics of Silicon Valley may be shifting again

Tech leaders may have backed Trump in 2024, but the majority of the community still leans left -- and has a big opportunity ahead.

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Why the next 25 years will force humanity to reinvent itself

“Old systems of the past are collapsing, and new systems of the future are still to be born. I call this moment the great progression.”

A grid of twelve black-and-white icons representing various scientific fields, with “Artificial Intelligence” highlighted in red under a polygonal brain illustration.

The U.S. may be entering a new progressive era

The case that a bipartisan movement structured around progress and reform may be reaching critical mass.

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The Big Think Interview

Why 2025 is the single most pivotal year in our lifetime

"We're living in an extraordinary moment in history. We are at a moment here in 2025 where we have world historic game-changing technologies now starting to scale."

Large crowd of well-dressed people socializing at an indoor event; "Substack" is projected on a wall above.

Why Substack will be the intellectual engine of the 21st century

The platform is a digital Royal Society for today's greatest minds — and it could play an essential role in shaping the next civilization.

A man in a suit sits in front of American flags, his face partially shadowed and filtered in yellow tones.

What a historian in 2100 might say about Trump’s America

Trump may make America great again — just not in the way he had intended.

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Kevin Kelly points a new way forward into the Age of AI

One of the most original and optimistic thinkers in America sketches some big ideas about what's possible with AI in the next 25 years.

Graph titled "The Post-WWII Boom 1945-1970" shows intersecting curves labeled "The Old World Is Dying" and "The New One Struggles To Be Born," with "JFK Was Here" marked at 1960.

The Past

America is going through its every-80-year reinvention

Americans have gone through three historic junctures like what we're witnessing today — and they happen on an uncanny 80-year cycle.

A graph titled "The Long Boom 2000-2025" shows intersecting curves from 1975 to 2025, depicting a transition from an old to a new world. Text reads "I was here" at the intersection around 2005.

A dozen reasons to read Peter Leyden at this critical juncture in history

The latest from Peter Leyden's "The Great Progression: 2025 to 2050", an essay series published by Freethink.

Yellow background with halftone globe and bold text: "The Great Progression 2025-2050.

What is The Great Progression: 2025 to 2050?

Tech expert Peter Leyden argues that we have a historic opportunity to harness AI and other transformative technologies in order to make a much better world over the next 25 years.

Progress

The Great Progression, 2025-2050

The world isn’t ending! But we are likely at the beginning of a profound transformation.

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