Davos 2026: AI Boom, Tariff Noise, To Donald Trump's Gaza Peace Board — 10 Key Highlights From WEF

Davos 2026: The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Summit in the pristine Swiss Alps town of Davos in Switzerland concludes on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. Popularly known as the hub of the 'global elite', the five-day summit witnessed several high-stakes conversations that revolved around geopolitics and artificial intelligence. Over 3,000 high-level executives from businesses and governments buzzed all week with journalists to celebrate this year's theme of 'Spirit of Dialogue' in the snowy mountain ranges.

The big topics that dominated conversations in Davos were AI, geopolitics, trade deal, and US President Donald Trump's remarks in his maiden WEF appearance. The tech presence at the WEF summit has always been sizable, but this year it was bigger, louder, and more embedded in the Swiss alpine town. Davos conference organizers always peg buzzwords for WEF, and this year's "A Spirit of Dialogue" - circled around five themes of cooperation, growth, investment in people, innovation and building prosperity.

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Davos 2026: Here are top 10 key highlights from WEF Annual Summit:

1. AI Boom: Anthropic, a little-known AI lab just a few years ago, for the first time set up its own office on the main drag - a clear sign of how aggressively it's courting enterprise customers. Google, meanwhile, hosted its press event for the fourth straight year, drawing a large crowd. Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, said the path to human-level artificial general intelligence is becoming clearer - but still has "missing ingredients." 

2. Geopolitical risk: The geopolitical context became incredibly complex this year at the WEF. Experts say Tump's pronouncements and policies on subjects as diverse as Venezuela, Greenland and Iran - along with his aggressive global tariff policies - have upended the world order and raised further questions about America's role in the world. Trump left little doubt about the pressure he intends to apply if Europe blocks his ambitions.
    
3. Top speakers: Headlining the lineup at Davos WEF was US President Donald Trump, who delivered a speech on Wednesday, and several Cabinet ministers and top advisers including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump spoke on a range of hot topics including the military operation on Venezuela, Greenland control, trade deals, among others.
    
4. Trump's Gaza Peace Board: Trump formally announced the first charter of his 'Board of Peace', a body for resolving international conflicts and has a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership. It was originally conceived to oversee the reconstruction and governance of Gaza following the Israel-Palestine war and has since expanded to resolving global conflicts. As many as 35 nations have agreed to join the Board.
    
5. French President Macron' sunglasses: Emmanuel Macron walked onto the stage for his hour-long address at the WEF in colourful aviator shades which grabbed everyone's eyeballs, including Trump. After Macron's look went viral, Milan-listed iVision Tech's stock price jumped 28%. Macron's office later clarified that the president wore sunglasses indoors to protect his eyes due to a burst blood vessel, medically known as a subconjunctival haemorrhage.
    
6. Maharashtra CM's 'Innovation City': Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told global investors that the state is ready to build a world-class innovation ecosystem near Mumbai. Addressing delegates, Fadnavis said the proposed innovation city would integrate global best practices and position Mumbai as a future-ready hub for technology and entrepreneurship. In a parallel boost, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority secured investment commitments worth $96 billion (Rs 8.73 lakh crore) by signing 10 major MoUs.
    
7. Trump on Greenland: During his speech, Trump reiterated his demand for control of Greenland, arguing that "no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland, other than the United States." "Every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory," he said. "We're a great power, much greater than people even understand." Trump also criticised Denmark for refusing to relinquish control of Greenland.
    
8. Satya Nadella's AI warning: Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella issued a rare warning about the future of AI, saying that if it stays limited to big tech companies and wealthy economies, and does not spread to other areas, the ongoing AI boom may turn into a bubble. "A telltale sign of if it's a bubble would be if all we are talking about are the tech firms," Nadella said, adding, "If all we talk about is what's happening to the technology side then it's just purely supply side."
    
9. Trump's remarks against Europe:  "I love Europe, and I want to see Europe go good, but it's not heading in the right direction," Trump said. The US President criticized Europe on several issues. He said he was European in heritage and wants to see it do well, but argued European countries are "destroying themselves." On windmills, immigration and trade, he tore into the continent, while many of its leaders were in his presence at the conference.
    
10. India Inc at Davos: EU leaders, set to attend India's Republic Day, are finalising a sweeping trade agreement with India dubbed "the mother of all deals." At Davos, global finance and political leaders - from JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon to Canada's PM Mark Carney, acknowledged India's rising strategic value. Gita Gopinath, Harvard professor and former International Monetary Fund chief economist said external shocks, ranging from tariff wars to market corrections, along with domestic challenges like pollution can significantly impact India's economic growth.

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