U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks to Apple CEO Tim Cook (L) as he attends a reception for business leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting on Jan. 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Moving between panels, hotel lobbies, and meetings this week, it often felt like two conferences were happening in the same snowy Swiss village.
In one Davos, the mood was strikingly optimistic. Executives and investors spoke about artificial intelligence moving from hype to production, terms like “world models” and “physical AI” were being thrown around, with discussions about the enormous pools of capital ready to back it.
In the other, a number of conversations seemed to end up back at tariffs, Greenland, geopolitical tensions, and a growing sense that the global rules investors have relied on for decades are shifting in real time.
Both worlds overlapped constantly. Often, in the same conversation.
“What Davos highlighted this year is not a crisis of innovation, but a crisis of coherence and loss of trust,” Chavalit Frederick Tsao, chairman of Singapore-based family-run trading business Tsao Pao Chee, said on the sidelines. “Technology is advancing faster than our collective wisdom.”
That tension between swift innovation and political uncertainty defined much of the week.
First came Trump …
On Wednesday, thousands queued for more than an hour to hear U.S. President Donald Trump’s address at the Congress Hall. I stood in line for 90 minutes. Inside, the atmosphere felt more like a concert than a policy forum.
Trump’s speech swung between humor, provocation, and unpredictability. But when he turned to Greenland — insisting the U.S. needed to acquire the Arctic island — the mood in the room changed.
People who laughed moments before turned quiet. Some shook their heads; others exchanged uneasy glances.
In the next few hours, Greenland and tariffs dominated conversations and seemed to have moved on from AI infrastructure and energy investments to trade leverage and political risk.
… Then came Musk
The very next day, Elon Musk returned to Davos after years away from the forum.
In a packed session, Tesla’s CEO outlined an ambitious vision for robotaxis, humanoid robots, and AI development. He said Tesla’s driverless robotaxis would be “very, very widespread” in the U.S. by the end of 2026. He also predicted AI could surpass human intelligence as soon as this year.
For many attendees, it reset the mood. Afterward, conversations moved to data centers, battery storage, computing power, and how cities and grids will cope with the expected surge in demand for energy.
The contrast with the day before was stark.
One day, Davos was trying to understand the geopolitical implications of Trump’s speech. Next, it was back to talking about the technological future at full speed.
‘Conviction-driven’
That whiplash kept showing up in interviews throughout the week.
Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, deputy CEO of Abu Dhabi-based investment giant Mubadala, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy the investment stance into 2026 could be summed up in two words: “conviction driven.”
“So it’s not chaotic, but the world is becoming more fragmented, without a doubt,” he said.
“That will come with its own opportunity, but pitfalls as well … As long as you can deploy capital in a methodical, strategic, conviction-driven sort of manner, then I think you’re going to be ahead of the pack”
Meanwhile, Joe Kaeser, chair of Siemens Energy, framed AI as an industrial opportunity rather than a race for consumers.
“There is no such continent in the world which has as much data on industrialization, mechanization, and automation as Europe,” he told CNBC.
“Combine that with computing power, and Europe has the best options to define where the physical and the virtual come together.”
Kaeser said leaders were still waiting to see whether policy announcements would translate into action.
“The jury is still out on whether things will be executed as announced,” he said. “But if one of the very important players is not willing to play, it’s bad for everybody.”
Countries tried to reassure investors
For finance ministers and other policymakers, much of the Davos message this year was about reassurance.
Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister, highlighted recent credit upgrades, his country’s removal from the U.S. Financial Action Task Force’s gray list, and political stability, before the conversation turned to managing ties with Washington and trade talks.
“The number one risk for South Africa’s economy is the geopolitical situation,” he told CNBC. “It is difficult to predict, and we don’t know its implications.”
Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, returned repeatedly to the need for dialogue.
“What businesses need is certainty,” he said, adding that disputes should be resolved through dialogue.
Two Davos, side by side
By week’s end, a clear pattern appeared.
Panels on AI, the energy transition, and industrial reinvention were packed. Private discussions focused on expansion, deployment, and long-term prospects.
But in less busy moments — over coffee, in corridors, on shuttles — the talk returned to Greenland, tariffs, and how swiftly policy could alter the investment calculus.
One Davos focused on the tech frontier and what AI could unlock. The other focused on navigating geopolitical uncertainty and preserving the conditions that enable that progress.
Both unfolded at the same time, in the same village, often in the same conversation. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.