PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Rutger Bregman

Also known as Rutger Christiaan Bregman

Rutger Bregman is a Dutch historian and author who warns publicly about the risks of advanced AI. Born in 1988, he studied history at Utrecht University and UCLA, wrote for De Correspondent, and published Utopia for Realists in 2014 and Humankind in 2019. In 2024 he co-founded The School for Moral Ambition, and in 2025 he published Moral Ambition and delivered the BBC Reith Lectures, whose final lecture at Stanford warned Silicon Valley about public anger over AI. In June 2026 he published the essay An Inconvenient Truth About AI, which compares AI denial on the left with climate denial on the right. He builds the US branch of the school, whose new fellowships list AI safety among their causes.

Now at
The School for Moral Ambition
Born
1988
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 2009–2012

    History at Utrecht and UCLA

    Born in Renesse, Netherlands, in 1988, he earns a BA in history at Utrecht University in 2009. In 2012, he completes an MA in history, partly at Utrecht and partly at the University of California, Los Angeles.

  2. 2014

    Journalism and Utopia for Realists

    He begins at the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant and moves to the journalism platform De Correspondent, where he writes for ten years. In 2014, he publishes Utopia for Realists, which grows out of his De Correspondent articles and argues for a universal basic income, a 15-hour workweek and open borders.

  3. 2017–2019

    A TED talk and Davos

    In April 2017, he gives a TED talk that argues for a universal basic income as the solution to end poverty, and TED curator Chris Anderson picks it among the top ten talks of 2017. In January 2019, he joins a panel debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos and criticizes the event for its focus on philanthropy.

  4. 2019–2020

    The book Humankind

    In September 2019, he publishes Humankind: A Hopeful History, which argues that humans are fundamentally mostly decent. The English translation appears in May 2020, and the paperback release becomes a New York Times best seller.

  5. 2024–2025

    Founding the School for Moral Ambition

    In 2024, he co-founds The School for Moral Ambition, a Dutch non-profit foundation that helps people take the step toward an impactful career. In May 2025, he publishes Moral Ambition, and everything he earns from the book funds the foundation.

  6. November 2025

    A Reith Lecture on AI

    In November 2025, he delivers the final lecture of his four-part BBC Reith Lectures series, Moral Revolution, at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He warns Silicon Valley that it is awakening a dragon, says public anger over AI could grow into a movement as fierce as the temperance crusade, and suggests that people may soon see mass resistance to the AI arms race.

  7. June 2026

    An essay on AI denial

    In June 2026, he publishes the essay An Inconvenient Truth About AI, which argues that AI denial is now a problem of the left, as climate denial once was a problem of the right. He calls for more AI expertise inside governments, international coordination on AI, and a democratic world that builds AI itself.

  8. As of October 2026

    Moral Ambition in the US

    He builds the US branch of The School for Moral Ambition after moving to New York. In July 2026, he presents the first twelve students of the school's Moral Ambition University Fellowship at Harvard and names making sure AI does not go catastrophically wrong among its next causes. In September 2026, the school launches fellowships at Princeton, Brown, Vanderbilt and Stanford, where students spend a summer on causes that include AI safety.

Career

  1. Since 2024The School for Moral AmbitionCo-founder
  2. De CorrespondentWriter

Education

  1. 2012Utrecht UniversityMA in history
  2. 2012University of California, Los AngelesMA in history
  3. 2009Utrecht UniversityBA in history

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  4. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Rutger Bregman yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Rutger Bregman - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. About – Rutger Bregman rutgerbregman.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Rutger Bregman on Fighting For Humanity In the Age of the Machine | Stanford GSB Corporations and Society Initiative casi.stanford.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. An Inconvenient Truth About AI - Rutger Bregman rutgerbregman.substack.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. These Harvard Students Don't Want to Waste Their Careers at McKinsey rutgerbregman.substack.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. If you've lost faith in this generation, watch this five-minute video rutgerbregman.substack.com. Checked 20 October 2026.