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How does Europe balance AI and energy transition?
“I can tell you Europe is absolutely committed to tackling climate change, to developing this green economy, and to making the green transition a European success,” said Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank.
The rollout of artificial intelligence has raised big questions about how it will impact Europe’s transition to a more sustainable economy. During a Global Stage livestream at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Calviño stressed the continent’s role in addressing risks generated by AI. She said, “I think it will be key when we're talking about these technologies that have such a huge demand for energy supply.” Alongside countries being energy-conscious, Calviño stresses that building strong trust between businesses and citizens will help the new technologies “unleash their full potential.”
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
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We're on path to building an intelligence grid, says Peng Xiao
"We are on the right path to building, what I call, the 'intelligence grid' alongside the electricity grid," said Peng Xiao, CEO of G42.
As Donald Trump begins his new term, artificial intelligence has reemerged as a major topic of discussion. During a Global Stage livestream at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Peng highlighted the benefits and challenges of advancing AI technology. He praised Trump’s global infrastructure build-out initiative and AI’s potential to integrate seamlessly into daily life but underscored, "We cannot afford for intelligence not to be equally distributed."
Peng emphasized the need for global governance and development to be "equitable, systematic, and coordinated across regions." Thus as private sector investments in AI surge, policy decisions in the coming months will be closely watched
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
AI can reduce trade costs, says WTO's Ngozi Okonojo-Iweala
"AI has (the) potential to do one thing which is very important to get developing countries more integrated into global markets and that is reduced trade costs,” said Ngozi Okonojo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, during a Global Stage livestream at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
She shares that the organization’s new report “Trading with Intelligence,” shows significant upsides to AI in trade. At a time when supply chains remain fragile, Iweala notes that "we've done simulations that show that world trade could increase by about 14% by 2040.”
However, Iweala emphasizes that technology adoption must happen across the board and include the Global South in the conversation. That means ensuring developing countries have the electrical infrastructure and capacity to handle the technology. Otherwise, she warns that the “increase drops substantially; it halves actually.”
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
Trump's early action on AI
“The interesting thing about Donald Trump,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, “is that this is not his first time as president of the United States.”
As the 47th president begins his second term, conversations about artificial intelligence are again taking center stage. Speaking at Davos, Smith reflected on Trump’s earlier efforts to prioritize AI during his first administration, citing the groundbreaking 2019 executive order that laid the foundation for US leadership in the field.
The order focused on three key pillars: investing in AI research and development, skilling the workforce for the AI-driven future, and opening global markets for American innovation. Smith sees Trump’s return to office as an opportunity to reinvigorate these priorities with renewed energy.
With AI rapidly reshaping industries and societies, early signals from the new administration suggest a continued commitment to ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of this critical technological revolution. As Smith put it, “he has an opportunity to bring even more energy to that.”
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
Exporting AI in a responsible and secure way
Tech giants like Microsoft are backing a massive effort to add AI data centers worldwide, including a $1.5 billion investment to introduce the latest Microsoft AI technologies to the UAE. Speaking at Davos, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, discussed the importance of bringing AI to countries in a responsible way.
Smith highlighted that international cooperation around the use of AI is key. That includes creating bilateral agreements between countries and developing goal-oriented initiatives with AI companies. Such measures would “ensure that the AI technology and the graphic processing units would be secure. They wouldn't be diverted for improper uses,” said Smith.
Microsoft’s approach to advancing AI responsibly echoes the global frameworks developed around other technologies. Smith emphasized, “What you see is the emergence of a new regime to export AI around the world as nuclear power was exported around the world.”
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
Ian Bremmer: Can the US still lead AI innovation while cutting global ties?
As global AI innovation accelerates, Ian Bremmer unpacks the shifting priorities of world leaders. During a Global Stage livestream at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he highlights the UK’s rebranding of its “AI Safety Summit” to an “AI Action Summit” in 2025, calling it a telling sign of the race to harness AI’s economic potential.
"There is enormous effort by every actor that's touching AI right now to try to ensure competitiveness, try to ensure productivity, try to take advantage of these tools and set them to work," he says. "Everyone agrees with that."
However, Ian flags a contradiction in the US approach: while Donald Trump’s administration is doubling down on innovation, its simultaneous withdrawal from global agreements like the Paris Accord and the WHO poses challenges. “What is a world going to look like when the country that is doing the most to try to ensure that it is driving that innovation is also at the same time withdrawing from global responsibilities and architecture that it created, which we've never seen before?” he asks. Bremmer warns that this duality could hinder efforts to scale AI’s benefits equitably, especially for developing nations.
This conversation, moderated by Becky Anderson, was part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
Click to watch the full discussion for our panel's insights on AI's future and how it is expected to transform our economy and society by 2030.
Trump's Davos address sets up big shifts in US strategy
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: A Quick Take to close out our week in Davos, Switzerland.
Want to talk about now President Trump's address; virtual, direct to everybody, collected yesterday, assembled yesterday, to hear his speech, and then to ask a few pre-planned questions. The speech itself, at the beginning, not all that surprising, "America's back open for business. Everything was horrible before. Everything's going to be great, now." Not a surprise, kind of exaggerated. You'd never think that the US was by far the strongest-performing economy in the advanced industrial world, coming out of the pandemic. But people roll their eyes a bit, they get on getting on. There was still a fair amount of news that was actually made, and some interesting thoughts about where the initial Trump administration is going to go.
First point, on OPEC, talks a lot about Saudi Arabia directly, Mohammed bin Salman. They're very close, they've worked together closely. Not only when he was president the first time, it was his first trip as president back in 2017, but since then. A lot of business with the family as well. And has been promised $600 billion to invest in the United States directly. That beats the $500 billion announcement that the AI giants have just made in what they're going to do, this Stargate project. He likes that. He said, "Why don't you up it to a trillion?" That's a round number. Good thing we're base-10 in this country. Anyway, the fact that Trump is interested in engaging very closely with the Saudis, not a surprise at all, there is going to be a very big push to try to ensure that Saudi Arabia moves on normalization of relations with Israel. Given the fact that there's no two-state solution on the table for the Palestinians, that's challenging, but I wouldn't count it out, frankly.
Secondly, a lot of talk about oil and the fact that Trump really doesn't like where oil prices are right now. Now, the Americans are going to try to pump more, but he knows that there's only so much that can be done in the near term, maybe another 500,000 barrels a day. OPEC, on the other hand, has over four million barrels that are off the market. Why? Because they're willing to ensure that prices are comparatively high. And if that means they lose a little bit of market share, they're happy to do that. Well, Trump doesn't like that one bit, and especially because he wants to hit Iran hard, and take more of their oil off the market. He doesn't want prices to go up, so he wants the Saudis to lean in. How are they going to react? We'll see. Something at least nominal in the near-term, that brings prices maybe down towards, let's say, $70, as opposed to roughly $80, where they've been, that would be interesting to see. I wouldn't put it past the Saudis at all to lean in on that.
Secondly, China. We are going to now see tariffs early on China, 10% across the board, February 1. Markets seem to like the fact that, on the first day, Trump didn't do anything, but a few days later, is that really much better? What was interesting about the conversation, Trump is trying to make it very clear, he doesn't have an ideological beef with China. He continues to speak broadly, more warmly about Xi Jinping, and specifically about China, than generally President Biden has. That's not all that different from the first term, but it's different from expectations over the past few months. And I do expect we're going to see a summit meeting relatively soon, even though there's been no announcements around it. Having said all of that, the fact that the US has a really tough take on China, not only bilaterally but also versus all these other countries, Trump wants to punish the Europeans to ensure that they coordinate with the US on China, wants to ensure the Mexicans, the Indians, the Vietnamese, and others don't allow Chinese goods into the US through their countries.
It's very hard for the US and China to maintain a stable relationship when Trump's going to respond to China, "Well, that's our business. Those are relations with other countries. You have nothing to say about it." They're really stuck on this, and I expect that, despite maybe a bit of a honeymoon, which I wasn't thinking we'd have a few weeks ago, the US-China relations are still going to get a lot more challenging over the coming months.
And then we have Russia. And I thought it was very interesting that when Trump was asked, "So, next year at Davos, if you were here, is the war going to be over between Russia and Ukraine?" Because, of course, he's been saying, "I can end the war in a day." Then he's saying, "100 days." Now, he's saying, "Actually, the Ukrainians are ready for a deal." And by the way, that's true. But you're going to have to ask the Russians. Well, that's very different from, "I can get the deal done very easily."
He also continues to lean into the fact that the Chinese can be useful here, and that's true. That's something that the Biden administration and Trump administration actually agree pretty strongly on, that China has a lot more direct leverage over Russia than the United States does. And there's only so much the US can do with additional sanctions to convince the Russians to stop. Now, Trump can say that Russia needs to end the war, and that this is hurting them, but Putin doesn't actually feel that way. Certainly isn't prepared to accept less than the territory that he's presently occupying. So that, to me, is very interesting.
I would say the place that Trump has moved the most in the last three months, moved specifically towards the position that the Europeans have, and they're a lot less panicked about it now than they were even a week ago, is on the Russia-Ukraine issue. No one here in Europe, not one European leader I spoke with, now believes that Trump is going to basically throw Zelenskyy under the bus. And that's absolutely not where they were even, let's say, in December. So, that's a big deal.
That doesn't mean that the Europeans are feeling comfortable about Trump because, of course, Trump does not like Europe. Does not like a consolidated Europe, doesn't think a strong Europe is good for the United States. He wants to deal with individual European countries, and he wants to deal, of course, preferably with more Europe-first types in those individual countries. So, it's not the British Prime Minister, it's not the German Chancellor. It's organizations like the Reform Party and AFD. And, of course, Giorgia Meloni from Italy. He also bitterly complains about all the regulations, all the taxes, how hard it is to do business in Europe, how hard it is to do business with Europe. And that is a big challenge for Europe, that understands they need to be more competitive, but isn't prepared to spend the money, isn't capable of coordinating to get the kind of industrial policy done that the Americans are now doing.
So, on defense, on Ukraine, existential threat from Russia, Europe's doing a lot more coordination with the United States. On the economy, which concerns the Europeans equally much, and technology, where the Americans are a clear leader and leaning in very heavily, and the regulations are only going to get more comfortable and aligned with the technology companies, those that remain, the regulations, that is, not the tech companies, the Europeans are in very serious trouble.
So, that's it from me. I hope you all guys are well, and I'll talk to you all from New York next week.
President Donald Trump makes a special address remotely during the 55th annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2025.
Davos Dispatch Day 5: 3 takeaways & 3 things to watch
GZERO’s very own Tony Maciulis is in the Alps all week to report from the 55th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
________
The official theme of this year’s World Economic Forum is “A Call for Collaboration in the Intelligent Age,” but after four days of speeches, panels, off-the-record discussions, and coffee bar chitchat, I’ve decided on my unofficial theme: “Trying to turn anxiety and fear into action.”
Davos participants acknowledge there are so many unknowns right now, and I wouldn’t describe the outlook from European delegates as rosy. Multilateral organizations like the World Health Organization risk losing significant funding, Ukraine waits to see who will stick around as the war approaches a third anniversary, and climate activists wonder if their work over the past decade will melt away like glacial ice.
But, on the flip side, we’ve heard quite a bit of pragmatism on stages that are normally filled with talk of “cooperation” and kumbaya. On Thursday, NATO’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte called for increased defense spending, saying, “Donald Trump is right.” Earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed simplifying regulations and creating an environment where “made-in-Europe innovation and risk-taking thrive.”
As Littlefinger said in “Game of Thrones,” “Chaos is a ladder.” I’m not sure about that, but some here in Davos see this moment as a much-needed push.
A few highlights from Thursday:
1. Trump does Davos by remote: It was easily the most anticipated moment of the week, and it drew the biggest crowd to Congress Hall I’ve seen during this forum. President Donald Trump appeared via live video, delivering a short speech (by Trump standards) followed by a Q&A with financial industry leaders, many of whom were described as “friends.”
In his remarks, Trump called the past few days “a revolution of common sense,” reciting his litany of executive orders that he said would launch “the golden age of America.” In the room, the crowd was quiet and attentive aside from a noticeable laugh or groan in response to Trump’s assertion that the EU has “treated America very unfairly,” and his insistence that Chinese President Xi Jinping called him first to initiate dialogue.
On tariffs, Trump stressed the importance of making products in America where manufacturers would find low taxes. While he didn’t address specifics on tariffs for goods made abroad, he did say they would happen and be in “varying amounts.”
Overall, Trump was tougher on Europe than he was on China, saying he likes President Xi very much, expects a good relationship, and hopes to enlist China’s help in ending the war in Ukraine. Despite campaign claims that he’d end that conflict in 24 hours, he reiterated to the Davos crowd that a ceasefire would take time and depend on Russia but that “Ukraine is ready.”
Børge Brende, WEF president and CEO, thanked Trump for a “powerful speech” and told him he was sure the US president could hear the applause all the way to the White House.
Truthfully, you could barely hear it in the hallway outside the auditorium. But the warm hospitality here in chilly Davos heated up some members of the crowd who became more chatty after the livestream.
2. Milei says he wants to “Make the West Great Again.” Wow. Anyone who heard Argentina’s President Javier Milei left thinking even Donald Trump would tell him to “Simma down nah.” Milei essentially read the Davos crowd to filth, chastising “wokeism” and its evils while praising a posse of leaders with whom he sees himself closely aligned: Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Trump, to name a handful.
The speech had it all — an Ayn Rand reference, a condemnation of the Malthusian trap, an attack on “radical feminism,” and, of course, lots of blame for the LGBTQ+ community. “Wokeism is turning Western values upside down,” he said, and then called out the WEF organizers and attendees for being complicit in promulgating woke narratives. Good times. And yes, he ended by repeating his famous, “Long live freedom, dammit!”
3. Meet your new AI co-worker. In a panel conversation on the main stage of Congress Centre, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declared that his generation of leaders “will be the last to only manage humans.” He described an army of agents powered by artificial intelligence that will “augment” the human workforce and make their jobs more efficient.
Last year, as WEF began, the International Monetary Fund released a jarring report estimating that up to 40% of jobs globally would be impacted by or lost to AI. This time around, I’m hearing more tempered language. Like Benioff, many leaders are discussing “enhancement” as opposed to replacement, though they’re also stressing the need for skilling and training to prepare workers for their new digital desk mates.
And here’s what we’re watching Friday:
1. A war on science? It probably won’t make headlines, but a morning panel today on science may raise some of the most provocative questions I’ve heard this week. Could growing political polarization and national protectionism make it harder to be a scientist and to find the kind of cross-border collaboration that often leads to faster breakthroughs in research? It was an issue UNESCO’s Gabriela Ramos raised with me during our conversation at the Paris Peace Forum in November.
2. The global economic outlook. In the final hours of WEF, a powerhouse panel will assemble to dissect what these turbulent times mean for growth and stability in the coming months. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, and other moola masters from around the world will talk tariffs, mounting public debt, and market movement in 2025.
3. "Uf Widerluege” from Davos. At noon local time, WEF President and CEO Børge Brende will deliver his closing remarks in the Congress Centre, bringing the 55th annual meeting to a close and sending participants out into the deep uncertainty of this geopolitical moment.