Although some of the underlying ideas were already expressed by Nikola Tesla in the late 19th century and were written about by many others before him, the term “global brain” was coined in 1982 by Peter Russell in his book The Global Brain.
Walau beberapa konsep dasarnya telah disampaikan oleh Nikola Tesla pada akhir abad ke-19, dan sudah ditulis oleh banyak pihak sebelumnya, istilah "otak global" dituliskan pertama kali pada tahun 1982 oleh Peter Russell dalam bukunya The Global Brain.