re:publica LA Welcome Reception

the text "re:publica Los Angeles" appears in front of a sunset cityscape with palm trees.
Su. November 8, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Thomas Mann House

A talk with Thomas Mann Fellow Miriam Meckel and Safiya U. Noble, Author and Professor at UCLA.

Language: English・By Invitation Only

 

Info

A handful of tech leaders are making decisions that will shape the lives of billions. They are racing toward “superintelligence,” backed by investment on a scale the world has rarely seen, while Washington largely looks on. Who gets to decide what AI becomes? And who pays the price? 

 

Safiya U. Noble, Professor at UCLA, MacArthur Fellow and author of Algorithms of Oppression, has spent years exposing how technology encodes and amplifies inequality. Miriam Meckel, Professor at the University of St. Gallen and Thomas Mann Fellow in Los Angeles, explores how AI is reshaping democracy, the economy and the public sphere. Together they ask: Is the Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) narrative a vision of the future or an instrument of power today? What happens when a geopolitical race between the US and China overrides ethical judgment? And what would it take to build a pro-social tech ecosystem that serves everyone?  

 

Let’s have an open conversation about power, responsibility and the choices still in our hands! 

 

 

 

About re:publica

From November 8–10, 2026, re:publica will take place in Los Angeles for the very first time. re:publica Los Angeles introduces an innovative networking format designed to foster dialogue among creatives, businesses, institutions, and civil society actors from Europe and the United States. The three-day program features panel discussions, keynote speeches, roundtables, and networking events. Three iconic venues will serve as the stages for this first edition: Thomas Mann House, Annenberg Community Beach House, and Villa Aurora.

Learn More About re:publica LA

Participants

Dr. Safiya U. Noble
Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Dr. Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is the Director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at UCLA. She currently serves as a Director of the UCLA DataX Initiative, leading work in critical data studies for the campus. Professor Noble is the author of the best-selling book on algorithmic harm in commercial search engines, entitled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press), which has been widely-reviewed in scholarly and popular publications. In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her ground-breaking work on algorithmic discrimination. Dr. Noble is a board member of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, serving those vulnerable to online harassment, and provides expertise to a number of civil and human rights organizations. She is a chartering member of the International Panel on the Information Environment at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford. In 2022, she was recognized as the inaugural NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award recipient. 

Miriam Meckel
Miriam Meckel is a full professor at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, specializing in communication management and technologies and co-founder of ada Learning GmbH. She has extensive experience in science, journalism, and politics, including as Harvard Fellow, editor-in-chief of WirtschaftsWoche, and State Secretary for Media and International Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia. Her research focuses on technological transformation and innovation. She publishes widely both academically and journalistically. Miriam Meckel is a 2026 Thomas Mann House Fellow.

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