Berggruen Prize 2025 crowns consciousness-themed AI essays with $50K prizes

The Berggruen Institute announced the winners of the 2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition: English-language winner Anil Seth for a critique of conscious AI, and Chinese-language winners Xin Huang and Xiaoben Liu for essays on language, tokens, mind uploading, and a Web4-era consciousness. Each language category receives USD 50,000, with all three winning essays published by Berggruen Press. The competition drew about 3,000 submissions from over 120 countries, selected through blind review; honorable mentions and a slate of shortlisted essays were also recognized and made available online. The essays explore deep questions about consciousness, language, computation, and the future relationship between human and artificial minds.