Key insights from AI industry leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026

Jensen Huang, Nvidia

The founder and CEO of Nvidia stated that AI “concerns Europe” due to its strong manufacturing base for building AI infrastructure. Huang emphasized that Europe can now “leapfrog” the software era and advised leveraging its capabilities to build AI infrastructure.

— “Robotics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for European countries”
— AI requires more energy, land, and skilled workers, and Europe has a strong labor force
— he believes that AI will create more jobs in skilled trades, such as plumbers and electricians, with salaries nearly doubling, without the need for doctoral degrees.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that AI usage should be beneficial.

“As a global community, we must reach a point where we use AI to do something useful that changes outcomes for people, communities, countries, and industries.” 

Nadella warned that AI adoption will be unevenly distributed across the world, primarily due to limited access to capital and infrastructure.

Realizing AI’s potential requires “enablers” — primarily attracting investment and building supportive infrastructure, he said. Although major tech companies “are investing everywhere, including the Global South,” success depends on policies that attract both public and private capital.

Critical infrastructure, such as power grids, is “mostly run by governments,” he said, and private companies can operate effectively only after basic systems like energy and telecommunications networks are in place.

Dario Amodei, Anthropic

The CEO and co-founder of Anthropic said that AI development is exciting, stating that we are “knocking on the door of incredible opportunities,” but the next few years will be critical for how we regulate and govern this technology.

— scenarios post-AGI were discussed, where AI could surpass human cognitive abilities
— Amodei stated that “not selling chips to China” is an important measure to prepare for the potential loss of control over AI
— it was noted that AI could impact the labor market, especially in programming, but there are currently no mass changes.

Yuval Noah Harari, philosopher

The popular writer and philosopher warned about superintelligent AI.

— humanity has no experience building a hybrid human-AI society
— he called for humility and correction mechanisms in case of unforeseen problems
— “AI will never be like humans, just as airplanes are not birds.”

Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind

DeepMind’s CEO expressed a more optimistic view.

— he expects the creation of new, more meaningful jobs, despite a possible slowdown in hiring interns
— he advised students to use the time to master AI tools, which “jumps themselves five years ahead”
— after the advent of AGI, the labor market will enter “uncharted territory,” with a potential shortage of work for humans, raising questions about the meaning and purpose of work
— he called for international understanding and minimum safety standards for AI to ensure the proper integration of technology into society.

Source: Euronews