Davos Day 2 live updates: Trump's Greenland threats, AI fears, and luxury outfits

At a White House press briefing on Tuesday, President Donald Trump remained coy on the issue of Greenland, though he signaled it would be a topic of discussion at Davos.

"We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland. I'm leaving tonight, as you know. Davos," Trump told reporters during the nearly two-hour-long briefing. "I think things are going to work out pretty well."

Trump was also asked how far he was willing to go to acquire the territory, which is owned by Denmark. "You'll find out," Trump replied.

Anthropic and Google DeepMind chiefs say they're seeing early signs of AI affecting junior-level hiring.

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, predicted this would be the year when AI could mean cutting back on entry-level jobs and internships. "I think there is some evidence, I can feel that ourselves," he said during a joint interview with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at Davos on Tuesday.

Amodei agreed. "Now I think maybe we're starting to see just the little beginnings of it, in software and coding," he said, adding that Anthropic is thinking about how to deal with this change "in a sensible way."

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said on Tuesday that he understands why Trump wants Greenland.

"I support the what: being able to project power in the Arctic," Tillis said at the "Path to Peace in Ukraine: By Might or by Accord?" panel. "Oh my goodness, anyone in NATO should understand that as a priority."

Russia and China's military drills in the Arctic show that "clearly we have to have a power projection platform and Greenland makes a lot of geographic sense," he said.

But he said he doesn't agree with Trump's how. Greenland is a territory of Denmark, a NATO ally, and the US already has a military base on it. Tillis pointed out that, at the peak of US cooperation, the US had 17 military facilities there.

He also rejected the idea that projecting US power from Greenland requires some financial transaction. He said that path doesn't even appeal to him as a fiscal conservative. "I think over time, hopefully we will get to the president to recognize that and have the policy that's commensurate with that," he said.

A blue-and-white Boeing C-32A departed Joint Base Andrews a few hours ago and is now approaching Europe. Its call sign, SAM696, suggests it's carrying a high-ranking official but not the president. Another US government airplane landed in Switzerland at 6:40 a.m. CET, before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared in Davos.

Argentina's President Javier Milei appeared to arrive in Zurich at 3:13 p.m. CET. His government's Boeing 757 jet, registered as "ARG-01," briefly stopped in the Canary Islands, per ADS-B Exchange data.

French President Emmanuel Macron was onstage today, after two state-owned Dassault private jets arrived from an air base near Paris around 9:30 a.m. CET.

We've also seen airplanes owned by the governments or militaries of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Czechia, Egypt, Israel, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, and Sweden.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak tomorrow.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a panel on AI and geopolitics that local resistance to data centers is the "big issues" for tech companies investing in AI right now.

Smith listed a variety of concerns that people who live near data centers are raising, including whether electricity prices will rise, whether water pressure in their homes will be impacted by the centers' water use, and who will benefit most from new jobs.

"Those are completely legitimate questions, and I think it's incumbent on all of us in the industry in the United States to address them head-on and offer the kinds of assurances that people need," Smith said.

Smith's comments come one week after Microsoft detailed a plan for "community-first AI infrastructure" that includes paying higher rates for the electricity their facilities consume. That followed a post from President Donald Trump calling on tech companies to "pay their own way" for data centers.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Tuesday again called out tech companies for abusing Section 230, this time with Google's president sitting just feet away.

"The social media companies have not been held responsible for the damage they did," Benioff said at a World Economic Forum panel. The Salesforce CEO owns Time Magazine, which he said is responsible for what it publishes. "These tech companies are not," he said.

Benioff also criticized Character.AI after watching a "60 Minutes" documentary about the company's impact on children. It was "maybe the darkest thing I've ever seen with technology," Benioff said.

He made similar statements about Section 230 and Character.AI earlier this month.

Google president and chief investment officer Ruth Porat sat two seats down from Benioff on the panel. Her company runs one of the social media sites, YouTube, that benefits from Section 230. Google also paid $2.5 billion to license Character.AI's technology and hire its key talent in 2024.

The panel's moderator said that Porat had a "right to reply."

Porat said there were areas where regulation was needed, but the upside was significant. As a cancer survivor, Porat highlighted the potential to democratize early detection in oncology through AI. "I don't want to give up on those kinds of things," she said.

Benioff responded, saying we can learn from what happened with social media. He referenced some governments banning social media for people under certain ages. "That's a big step," Benioff said. "That wasn't true 10 years ago."

The biggest theme emerging from my conversations so far this week is that AI hasn't delivered the tangible productivity gains executives expected. The question everyone's trying to answer is: How do we fix that?

One approach is an "AI or else" approach, shoving it down employees' throats (e.g., incorporating AI use in performance reviews). But at a Business Insider roundtable I moderated this morning, the chief people officers at many of the world's largest companies advised a gentler approach.

Cisco, for example, found that when it mandated AI training, it not only failed to drive adoption but actually had a negative impact. What was more successful was "providing choice," said Francine Katsoudas, the chief people, policy, and purpose officer at Cisco — like when it gave its engineers access to half a dozen AI tools, so they themselves could decide which tools to use and how to use them. "I do believe that we have to work really, really hard to make AI a team sport."

One of the most fun parts about being at Davos is walking along the main promenade to people-watch and try the free snacks and drinks that companies and foreign governments hand out.

Since this is a snowy mountain town, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are popular.

One of the tastiest items I've had is the orange hot chocolate at Meta's house.

To order, I had to scan a QR code, which took me to Meta-owned WhatsApp, where a disclaimer popped up. "Meta shares your commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and transparency," it said. "This hospitality is valued at USD $13."

Luckily, our Business Insider policies allow me to accept free hot chocolate, and a minute later, a friendly barista served up the drink, topped with whipped cream, a marshmallow, and a wafer with the Meta logo.

It was piping hot, not too sweet, and delicious.

A recent warning out of Davos highlights that even the world's business elite can fall prey to online scams.

Fake VIP passes for the USA House — America's privately funded celebration site at the World Economic Forum's event in Davos, Switzerland — have hit the market. In a statement on its website, the USA House warned those attending not to be duped.

"We will not give access to people who purchased such packages," the statement reads. "Our sympathies to those who fell victim to these scams."

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick doesn't want to talk about Greenland, as President Donald Trump's statements about the autonomous Danish territory roil global markets.

"No, it's not necessary," Lutnick told panel host Adam Tooze, an economic historian, when Tooze tried to steer the conversation back to the topic looming over Davos.

"I think America and the Western Hemisphere are vital to America, and I'm going to leave that to my national security people to address."

Top economic officials in the UK and Canada, who joined Lutnick on the panel, sprinkled in reminders in their remarks that the White House should not forget its allies, though they offered no specific condemnation of Trump's repeated suggestions that the US may try to seize Greenland.

"What I urge Howard and others in the administration just to think of is just how your allies can help you achieve your objectives," Rachel Reeves, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, said.

Later, during an open Q&A, Lutnick was pressed on how the US would respond if Europe imposed retaliatory tariffs should Trump follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries for not supporting his views on Greenland.

Lutnick said if Europe responds with tariffs of its own, the standoff will eventually end with a meeting between President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Trump, as happened previously.

"If we're going to have a kerfuffle, so be it," Lutnick said. "But we know how it's going to end."

Davos often attracts an older crowd, but I had lunch with two young tech founders here, one of whom is not old enough to drink in the US

"This is one of the few places in the world where I can have a drink and not feel so guilty about it," said Cameron Fink, the 20-year-old Dartmouth dropout who is cofounder and CEO of Aaru, which is building AI-driven software that it says can predict future events.

"I did meet one person younger than me, but they happened to be the child of the World Economic Forum delegate, so I don't know if that counts."

Fink and his 21-year-old cofounder, Ned Koh, were dressed in suits. They dressed up to try to make them look older, lest they be confused for interns. To save money, they are not staying in Davos, but 30 minutes away by train.

"The Davos accommodations are like $30,000, Fink said. "That doesn't exist in our founder budget."

Ned used 390,000 United Airlines miles to travel here in business class, which he said was worth it because he spent the trip networking.

"If you look at the people around you and you start to look at logos on backpacks, you'll see that like half of America's biggest CEOs are sitting next to you," said Koh.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, described the US job market in three words to a Davos audience: "K-shaped, concentrated, and choppy."

Consumer spending is high among wealthier Americans, but middle- and lower-income households are struggling to find work and pay bills. It's a gap that she expects will widen, especially as healthcare and hospitality are among the only fields showing real growth.

Besides the gloomy jobs outlook, a group of top economists and bank leaders said Tuesday that the global economy is resilient. Potential AI and credit bubbles might be a risk to markets — though data centers are still a worthy investment.

"We're not in a productivity bubble," Richardson, who was one of the panelists, said. "What AI has promised, it can deliver: higher standards of living, higher growth rates."

She expects the US will need more specialized blue-collar workers to build data centers and stay competitive. "It's going to take an infrastructure that is able to keep up with the development, and right now, we don't have it."

Yaccarino, the former CEO of X, is participating in various panels along the promenade in her new role as CEO of eMed Population Health. Her winter white suit is from Gabriela Hearst.

Trump is dominating not only conversations in Davos, but also the narrative in the markets. Stocks across the board have plunged on Tuesday morning, with investors showing their anxiety about the Greenland fight.

Major indexes on both sides of the Atlantic are down sharply, having previously largely ignored Trump's threats to take over Greenland.

Read Jennifer Sor's full story on Tuesday's market chaos here.

The weather is sunny and (relatively) warm in Davos, but there's a definite chill in the air.

Maybe it's the heightened security. Maybe it's the long lines already forming. Maybe it's that there are reportedly a lot more people here than there have been in a long time.

Whatever the case, everyone seems to be on edge. Multiple attendees told me they were already feeling exhausted, as if we were halfway through the week, even though we're just getting started.

President Donald Trump's ongoing threats against Europe over his desire to take over Greenland have been a big talking point. Speculation continues to swirl about his Wednesday address.

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Philosophy majors, rejoice. Your value is rising by the minute.

After years of often being the butt of the joke in the corporate world, liberal arts degrees might be the new hot commodity.

I've asked a lot of finance executives this week about AI's impact on the workplace. Specifically, how the tech's automation could suck up the need for junior roles.

All of them stressed the importance of attracting critical, creative thinkers, since so much of the hard financial analysis can be done by the bots. That means they'd look for talent outside traditional finance tracks.

Don't sweat it, Wharton folks. They're still interested in your types. Just don't be surprised if you're rubbing shoulders with an Art History major in your analyst class.

Selling AI chips to China would be "like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea," according to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who described the idea as "crazy."

Speaking to Bloomberg at Davos on Tuesday, Amodei said that Trump's decision to sell Nvidia AI chips to China would be a mistake that could have major national security implications.

"We are many years ahead of China in terms of our ability to make chips, so I think it would be a big mistake to ship these chips," said Amodei, who said that companies like Anthropic were building models that are "essentially cognition."

"Imagine 100 million people smarter than any Nobel Prize winner, and it's going to be under the control of one country or another.

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.