Davos 2025 Trade, tariffs, AI and UN chief Guterres dominate Forum agenda

Activists of Drop Fossil Subsidies protest after they sprayed an Amazon shop window with paint as a
police officer cordons off the area, in Davos

A speech by the U.N. chief, economic growth potential in places like China and Russia, the challenges of artificial intelligence, and appearances by leaders from Spain to Malaysia are set to headline the agenda at the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos today [Macau time].

António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, has been one of the highest-profile advocates for the fight against climate change. That effort has been rattled by promises by U.S. President Donald Trump to “ drill, baby, drill “ and expand fossil-fuel production in the world’s largest economy.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap at the annual meeting of elites in the Swiss Alps.

AI: Promise, peril or both?

The CEO of AI startup Groq and others take up the idea of artificial general intelligence, a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can.

AGI has prompted concern for world governments and some top scientists have warned that unchecked AI agents with “long-term planning” skills could pose an existential risk to humanity.

A day earlier, Trump highlighted a joint venture that plans to invest up to $500 billion for infrastructure linked to AI though a new partnership formed by Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT — whose chatbot has led to fascination with its ability to perform basic business tasks and answer complex questions, albeit with varying degrees of accuracy.

The Stargate project plans to build out data centers and the electricity generation needed by voracious power needs of fast-evolving AI in Texas, the White House said.

Prime Ministers of Spain and Malaysia

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will deliver an address as leaders of the European Union, a key U.S. trading partner, continues to assess the return to power of Trump, who has promised tariffs on goods from friend and foe alike in the coming months.

Trump appeared to mistakenly lump in Spain, one of the stronger economic performers in the EU last year, with the BRICS bloc of developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — on Tuesday. The U.S. leader has put pressure on Europe to spend more on defense.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim takes the podium after the southeast Asian nation and its neighbor Singapore struck a deal to create a special economic zone that would ramp up job creation and lure investment. JAMEY KEATEN, DAVOS, MDT/AP