Davos day 2 live updates: Statement scarves, croissants, and Trump anticipation

I've been tracking all the private jets that are landing near Davos. There were at least 157 yesterday, arriving from more than 40 different countries.

The longest trip was made by one that belongs to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, according to JetSpy data. It flew for 14.5 hours from Hawaii.

JetSpy also showed numerous companies' private jets arriving in the area, including those of Aramco, BlackRock, Google, and JPMorgan Chase. The most popular type was the Gulfstream G650, which typically costs over $65 million.

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Green "is my happy color," she said, saying bright colors help when "the world is so dark."

French President Emmanuel Macron channeled his inner "Top Gun" during a panel discussion with WEF cochair Larry Fink, sporting a pair of aviator sunglasses.

In a special address, Macron criticized Trump's tariffs, calling them "fundamentally unacceptable."

"Competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions, and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe, combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable, even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty," he said.

While it isn't clear exactly why Macron sported sunglasses, he appeared in public last week with a swollen, red right eye, opening a speech at a French military base by saying: "Please pardon the unsightly appearance of my eye."

He described his issue as "something completely harmless."

The presence of senior figures from US politics is noticeable in Davos this year. Business Insider's Ben Bergman has spotted both Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former House speaker and longtime Trump ally, Newt Gingrich, on the ground today.

A reminder: Trump addresses Davos tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he believes people will eventually realize AI may demand "macroeconomic intervention."

"If we look at just the disparities in wealth that we have now, if we look at it as a fraction of GDP, I believe we've kind of exceeded the Gilded Age already, and this is mostly without AI," he said.

However, asked about the California wealth tax, Amodei said the proposal was "poorly designed" and called for more "sober" thinking about tech's economic impact.

Private jets belonging to Bill Gates and Michael Dell touched down at Zurich Airport around lunchtime, according to data from JetSpy.

Gates' Gulfstream G650 came from Madrid, about two hours away. It was on the ground in the Spanish capital for 24 hours after arriving from California. The Microsoft cofounder is scheduled to speak about healthcare tomorrow.

A Gulfstream G700, which JetSpy lists as belonging to Dell, flew from Farnborough, near London. It had traversed the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday.

Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm, kicked off the World Economic Forum on Tuesday with a critique of capitalism.

More wealth has been created since the fall of the Berlin Wall than at any other time in human history, but it has not translated into shared prosperity, said Fink, who was appointed as interim cochair of the World Economic Forum in August 2025, replacing founder Klaus Schwab.

"In advanced economies, that wealth has accrued to a far narrower share of people than any healthy society can ultimately sustain," he said.

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As you can probably tell, we here at Business Insider are really enjoying the winter fashions on show in sunny Davos.

Our latest fashion dispatch comes from Kim Last, Editorial Director of BI Live, Business Insider's live journalism platform, who spied Monica Weinberg, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, rocking an Akris black lame suit and a matching Lady Dior bag.

You can keep track of all the best looks we've spotted at Davos by clicking below:

our favorite davos fashion

As the top dogs of the finance world live it up in the mountains, there's a big day brewing on Wall Street. With tensions between the US and Europe rising amid Trump's threats of further tariffs over Greenland, global stock markets are bumpy on Tuesday.

In European trading, the benchmark indexes in Germany, France, and the UK have all dropped more than 1% as of 7 a.m. ET.

US futures are also pointing to a painful day, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all set to open more than 1% lower.

Futures in the S&P 500 VIX, which measures volatility in the index, have jumped 7% on Tuesday, while gold, the ultimate safe haven, is up over 3% to $7,740 per ounce.

As traffic jams snarl the streets of Davos, conversations about the autonomous future of cars are getting a lot of airtime.

Earlier, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was asked about the investment landscape around robotaxis, and said he doesn't think the investment market in autonomous vehicles is overheated.

However, he says the broader AI market — foundation models, hardware, semiconductors — has "heated up significantly," with "very aggressive assumptions of forward growth."

Asked if Uber might invest in Waymo, Khosrowshahi said "no comment."

"They have plenty of money," he said. "But we're investing across the ecosystem, and we're very bullish."

Editor's note: This post has been updated to more accurately reflect Khosrowshahi's comments.

With schedules full of back-to-back meetings and most shops on the promenade taken over by businesses, eating during the day can be tough.

Some businesses set up grab-and-go food and drink stations. That's what Pinterest did, and this morning, sweet croissants were on the menu.

I opted for the chocolate crush, but I was told the cinnamon apple glow was the most popular choice, with only two left when I got there a little after 11 a.m.

And yes, it tasted as good as it looked.

So when the CEO of Philip Morris International US travels, even for long trips, she takes a carry-on. Her trick: Pick a color for the week and coordinate outfits around that, with travel-well fabrics. For Davos this week, the color is black.

Stephen Ehikian is CEO of C3 AI, but he's no stranger to the Trump administration.

Ehikian, who was also previously a VP of product at Salesforce, served for eight months as the Acting Administrator of the General Services Administration before taking on the CEO role last September.

I asked him about President Donald Trump's upcoming speech.

He had this to say: "I'm hoping there's an expression of strength in numbers, and we're better together kind of story. Now, that said, I believe this idea that taking a strong 'America First' approach is good for this country.

"I think it's setting a tone and a change of direction from where we've been the last 50 years. So, I think it's refreshing. I don't even want to anticipate what's going to happen tomorrow because I have no idea."

Speaking earlier this morning, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he is skeptical about some companies claiming rapid AI transformation, and that getting it right comes down to culture.

Uber tried building customer service AI that followed its old policies, Khosrowshahi told the audience at Davos, but it was only "OK."

That changed after the developers started from scratch with AI in mind.

Companies are essentially rule systems, he said. "To some extent, you've got to break down those rules and start over with AI in order to get the full potential of AI inside your company."

Editor's note: This post has been updated to more accurately reflect Khosrowshahi's comments.

Davos attracts a real cross-section of the world's rich and powerful, ranging from investors and politicians to sporting legends. Soccer great and longtime UNICEF ambassador David Beckham was spotted recording a podcast this morning.

At last year's Davos, Beckham was awarded the Crystal Award, which recognized his contributions to "advocating for children's rights, education and well-being."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who spoke in a morning panel led by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, shared how he has always prepared for Davos meetings — and how that's changed with AI.

He said his field team used to prep him for 50 or so meetings, according to a "particular workflow."

"Nothing had really changed since I joined in '92 to essentially even a few years back," he said about the year he joined the tech giant as an engineer. "Whereas now, I just go to Copilot and say, "Hey, I'm meeting Larry. Please give me a brief."

He added that the briefs generated by Microsoft's AI assistant give him a comprehensive overview of the relationship between his firm and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's team.

AI tools are also changing the traditional bottom-to-top flow of information, he said.

"In fact, what I do is I take that and immediately share that back with all my colleagues across all the functions," he said. "Think about it. It's a complete inversion of how information is flowing in the organization."

Robot drivers will ultimately outperform humans on safety, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on Tuesday in Davos.

"If you think about the world 20 years from now, your Uber is going to be driven largely not by a human being, but by a robot driver — a piece of software on top of a car," Khosrowshahi said, adding that vehicles are becoming increasingly sophisticated and more like "computers on wheels."

Khosrowshahi said autonomous systems have clear advantages over human drivers. "There's no doubt in my mind that the robot driver can be safer than a human driver," he said. Robot drivers don't get tired or distracted, don't text while driving, and can operate continuously while improving over time, he added.

The key question, Khosrowshahi said, is what level of safety is "enough" for robot drivers — whether matching human performance is sufficient or whether autonomous vehicles should be held to a higher standard.

In the longer term, he said, human driving could resemble horseback riding today, becoming a niche activity done for enjoyment.

"There's no doubt that 10 years from now, there will be questions as to whether humans are safe enough," he said.

Trump is expected to arrive in Davos on Wednesday. While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants business leaders to take a breath and chill out about Greenland, that may not be in the cards.

Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday that he had "a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, concerning Greenland."

"I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland. As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security," Trump wrote.

Trump on Sunday had sent messages to Norway's leader, saying the US requires "Complete and Total Control of Greenland." Greenland is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Governments keep changing their rules on EVs, says BYD executive vice president Stella Li, and that sets carmakers back.

Li said in a panel at Davos that when countries go "back and forth" on their EV policy, it creates a pattern that "will confuse manufacturers." In contrast, when governments give a "very clear line," automakers can focus on execution, Li said.

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Bessent, speaking to the press on Tuesday morning, urged calm amid President Donald Trump's latest slate of trade tariffs on Greenland.

"You say: 'If there is a protracted trade war.' Why are we jumping there? Why are you taking it to the worst case? Calm down the hysteria, take a deep breath, this is where we were last year," Bessentt said. "I'm sure you would have asked me the same question if we were here on April 2nd. And you know what? It all worked out."

When asked about what European business leaders should do, Bessent's take was to "sit back" and "relax."

"What I am urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out," Bessent said.

"I am confident that the leaders will not escalate and that this will work out in a manner that ends up in a very good place for all, for national security, for the US, and for Europe," he said.

Anything you do within your company's digital ecosystem is likely being tracked, from the data you touch to the software programs you use.

But AI agents, not so much.

That's a real concern as we rely on them more and more, Raj Sharma, EY's global managing partner of growth and innovation, told me.

"We have to build industrial-level security for AI agents in that particular area," he said. "That keeps me up at night," Sharma added.

For Tim Walsh, the chair and CEO of KPMG US, it's the threat of quantum computing. While still a few years out, its power is undeniable.

"Quantum breaks everything," Walsh said. "I mean, all encryption."

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"M&A is high on the agenda," said Sharon Marcil, North America chair at BCG. "We're hearing it from so many CEOs." She pointed to a strong stock market and an overall tilt in Washington toward deregulation and robust business activity.

Winston Weinberg, CEO and cofounder of the legal AI startup Harvey, echoes the sentiment, saying he is hearing that 2026 will be an "insane" year for dealmaking. (Good for lawyers!)

Similar predictions predominated this time last year. The tariff tumult put a pause on M&A early on, but then dealmaking got its mojo back.

Fink took the stage at Davos to welcome more than a thousand chief executives to the World Economic Forum. In his opening remarks, he questioned whether anyone outside the room would care about this meeting of global leaders.

"Because if we're being honest, for many people this meeting feels out of step with the moment: elites in an age of populism, an established institution in an era of deep institutional distrust," the BlackRock CEO said.

"And there's truth in that critique," he added. "I've believed in this forum for a long time. I certainly wouldn't be leading it if I didn't. But it's also obvious that the world now places far less trust in us to help shape what comes next."

Fink said the capitalism now faces a big test: Whether it can "evolve to turn more people into owners of growth, instead of spectators watching it happen."

"And that kind of change is hard. Especially in a world of competing ideologies and assumptions about how the system should work," he said.

Fink's remarks ground what is expected to be a monumental week, in which deals are made and new alliances are forged amid turmoil in the wider political sphere.