Elites Gather at Davos as Tariffs and AI Dominate Agenda
At the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, two hot topics are taking center stage: tariffs and artificial intelligence. The World Trade Organization chief, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged leaders to "chill" and avoid tit-for-tat tariffs, warning that a trade war could have devastating consequences.
Okonjo-Iweala’s comments come amid rising tensions between the US and other countries, as US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on various nations. Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian, defended tech billionaire Elon Musk, who faced backlash for making hand gestures at a Trump inauguration event.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis cautioned leaders about the dangers of artificial intelligence, warning that its ability to produce realistic, but false, information could exacerbate the growing crisis of truth in the public forum. Francis is familiar with the risks of AI, having faced a viral image of himself in a puffer jacket, created using the technology.
On the other hand, AI enthusiasts were in abundance at Davos, including Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, who predicted that AI systems will be able to perform tasks better than humans by 2026 or 2027.