Intelligence Everywhere Launches $60M Research Initiative

West Conshohocken, PA, Oct. 01, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- The John Templeton Foundation and Big Think are set to gather more than 400 guests from across the creative, intellectual, scientific, and technological worlds for “Intelligence Everywhere,” a live exploration of the many forms intelligence can take and what it means to live in a world full of minds. The event, which will be held at The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, marks the public launch of the Foundation’s Future of Intelligence venture, a three-year, $60 million philanthropic investment in research and storytelling that deepens and expands our grasp of intelligence.

The Future of Intelligence venture, a three-year, $60 million philanthropic investment in research and storytelling, will investigate intelligence across biological, human, collective, artificial, and cosmic domains. The event, which will be held at The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, will feature six speakers who will approach the subject from different perspectives, including developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik, marine mammal scientist and cognitive psychologist Diana Reiss, bee cognition researcher Felicity Muth, behavioral biologist Dora B. Hayakawa, Google’s CTO of Technology & Society Blaise Agüera y Arcas, and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Jon Spaihts. Comedian, author, and podcast host Chris Duffy will serve as emcee.

The rapid rise of AI has made intelligence one of the defining questions of our time, but it has also reminded us how little we understand intelligence itself. Elements of intelligence appear not only in humans and machines, but also in cells, animals, ecosystems, and groups. The Foundation’s investment of more than $60 million will be awarded in grants across its six funding areas, which include scientists, philosophers, theologians, technologists, ethicists, and storytellers who will investigate intelligence across these domains.

Founded in 1987, the John Templeton Foundation is a grantmaking foundation that supports interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that inspire awe and wonder. With an endowment of $4 billion and annual giving of approximately $150 million, the Foundation ranks among the 30 largest grantmaking foundations in the United States. The Foundation’s investment in the Future of Intelligence venture is part of a new multiyear initiative for focused philanthropic investments addressing major questions that cross conventional academic and cultural boundaries, known as Templeton Futures.