Trump, Musk and AI: What happened at Davos

Putting the pleasantries aside, Donald Trump had a blunt warning to the business leaders. Photo / Jim Watson, AFP

Donald Trump grabbed the spotlight in Davos on Thursday, even if he wasn’t physically there, but other things happened at the annual meeting of world elites in the Swiss ski village.

One of his biggest fans on the world stage, Argentine President Javier Milei, had a few words to say.

Artificial intelligence remained a hot topic, prompting the pope to send a letter about it.

And the head of the World Trade Organisation had some advice to people stressing about tariffs: “Chill”.

Here is what happened at the forum on Thursday:

Keep calm and trade on

WTO head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appeared to have reached a point of exasperation amid the panic of what might happen if the United States unleashes painful duties.

“Please let’s not hyperventilate. I know we are here to discuss tariffs. I’ve been saying to everybody: could we chill, also. I just sense a lot of hyperventilation,” she told a panel called “debating tariffs”.

“Even if a tariff is levied, please keep calm, don’t wake up and without the necessary groundwork levy your own,” she said.

Her remarks came after expectations that if Trump slaps higher levies, countries will respond with tit-for-tat actions of their own.

Musk’s ‘innocent’ salute

One of this year’s stars at Davos has been Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who delivered another bombastic speech, to follow his first at last year’s Davos gathering.

This time, Milei defended tech billionaire Elon Musk after he caused a stir this week by making hand gestures at a Trump inauguration event.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Milei said his “dear friend Musk” has been “unfairly vilified by wokeism in recent hours for an innocent gesture that only means... his gratitude to the people”.

Pope’s AI warning

There may be a lot of hype about AI and what more it can do for businesses and people but Pope Francis had a warning: be vigilant, especially over the lies it tells.

The pope is familiar with various nefarious aspects of AI. Photo / Andreas Solaro, AFP

The pope is familiar with AI and its risks of deepfakes. In 2023, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral.

“The results that AI can produce are almost indistinguishable from those of human beings, raising questions about its effect on the growing crisis of truth in the public forum,” he said in a written address to the WEF.

AI ‘better than humans by 2027′

But AI enthusiasts abounded in Davos, including Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, who expects artificial intelligence systems to soon perform tasks better than humans.

“It is my guess that by 2026 or 2027, we will have AI systems that are broadly better than almost all humans at almost all things,” Amodei said.

Trump TV

Last but not least, Trump.

Fresh from his inauguration, the Republican president appeared by videoconference from the White House to address a room packed with the world’s rich and powerful.

“Hello to everyone in beautiful Davos,” the former reality TV star said before listing the flurry of announcements he made since taking office on Monday.

Putting the pleasantries aside, he had a blunt warning to the business leaders.

“My message to every business in the world is very simple. Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” he said.

© Agence France-Presse