DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has doubled down on warnings about climate change, saying the world’s hunger for fossil fuels is a “Frankenstein’s monster” that will spare no one, while also being brought about by artificial intelligence. If the rise goes unchecked, even if some leaders who called for greater attention to the risks make good on their promises.
The United Nations Secretary-General headlined a series of activities and talks at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on Wednesday. There, the changes underway in Washington during President Donald Trump’s first week in office also featured prominently in scheduled events and side chats with government officials, academics, business executives and others.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought to drum up support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia by inviting leaders such as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, as well as German opposition leader and prime ministerial candidate Friedrich. -Meeted with Mertz and others and walked around the hallways.
Here are some highlights from Wednesday’s session.
UN Secretary General warns about big oil…
Accompanied by executives from the energy and tech industries, Guterres reiterated one of his most frequent appeals: for the world to do more to combat global warming.
President Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” promise and a series of concerns about large but moribund economic growth in Europe and parts of the rest of the world are undermining public and private commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
Guterres lamented that 2024 was the hottest year on record and warned that rising sea levels could overwhelm ports that move oil in and out.
“And the increase in temperature is overwhelmingly caused by the burning of fossil fuels,” he says. “Our fossil fuel addiction is like Frankenstein’s monster, which spares no one or anything. All around us there are clear signs that the monster has taken over.”
Companies that have recently backed away from tackling climate change are “on the wrong side of history,” he added.
…and “ungoverned” AI
The UN Secretary-General praised the potential of artificial intelligence, saying it could revolutionize learning, help improve healthcare and support farmers with tools to increase productivity.
“However, this promise comes with significant risks, especially if AI is left unmanaged,” he says. It warned it could be used “as an instrument of deception”, undermine trust in the system, disrupt labor markets and affect the war effort.
President Trump on Tuesday announced a U.S. joint venture that plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI-related infrastructure through a new partnership formed by Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI.
According to the White House, the goal of the Stargate project is to build a data center in Texas and the power generation needed to meet the voracious power demands of rapidly evolving AI.
Julie Sweet, chief executive officer of multinational information technology and consulting firm Accenture, praised the Stargate investment, saying it “really proves that AI is important to companies and countries.”
He said that unlike other countries that prioritize guardrails, the U.S. appears intent on maintaining its approach to AI in innovation first and then applying “appropriate guardrails.”
“If people don’t trust AI, it won’t be successful,” Sweet told The Associated Press. “So we’re not worried about too much deregulation because the interest in making sure AI is trusted is consistent across all groups.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar shares challenges and expectations for AI
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his country needs to “navigate” AI, but that “partly because of my age, we will move forward with AI at a faster pace. We don’t have time to wait.” ” he said.
Mr Anwar spoke at Davos after the Southeast Asian country and neighboring Singapore signed an agreement to create a special economic zone to boost job creation and attract investment.
“Of course, AI is a new challenge; we don’t have the expertise (or know-how),” he said. “But AI means changing education systems, health services and blockchain, so it has to happen.”
From AI to social media: Spain’s Sanchez wants EU action
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on the EU to help “make social media great again” by taking tough regulatory measures against technology platforms he said are run by big-time capitalists with a disregard for the law. .
“Tech billionaires want to subvert democracy. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the truth of the terrible threat we face,” Sanchez said, adding that illiberal political movements He cited the spread of false information that fuels the spread of misinformation. “The technology that was meant to liberate us has become a tool of our own oppression.”
The centre-left Socialist Party says social media was initially “supposed” to promote unity and democracy, but instead “brings division, lies and reactionary policies” and has now become “a strategic sector of our economy.” “We are starting to compete unfairly with the Banks, retailers, media.
“And they ended up in the hands of a small group of men, only men, by the way, but their total (net) value is three times the budget of the entire European Union,” he added.
Mr. Sánchez will end what he calls the anonymity of social media users and enact policies that use existing laws to “force open the black box of social media algorithms,” as well as the ownership of social media platforms. He called on the EU to enact policies that would “hold people personally accountable”. ” for any wrongdoing brought about by the site.
Can the UK avoid Trump’s tariffs? The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer hopes so
There was a lot of talk about where President Trump’s much-touted tariffs, including on products from rival China and even allies Canada and Mexico, would reach.
Britain’s new Treasury Secretary Rachel Reeves says President Trump is considering tariffs on countries with large trade surpluses with the US, but not in the UK’s case – trade deficits with the US. pointed out that it was small.
“So the problem that President Trump is trying to address cannot be addressed with tariffs on the UK,” Reeves said.
“One million British people work for American companies, and one million Americans also work for British companies,” she told reporters. “The two countries’ economies are so intertwined that we do not believe that tariffs between the two countries would be in the interests of both countries.”
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Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Pan Pyrus in London contributed to this report.
