Leaders from across the world of business, technology, policy, and entertainment gathered at the TIME100 Davos Dinner as the World Economic Forum’s 55th annual meeting kicked off on Jan. 20. In keeping with this year’s annual meeting theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,” Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of AI company Anthropic, joined TIME editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs on stage to talk about the future of AI.
Discussing what Amodei calls powerful AI, which he prefers over Artificial General Intelligence because of the latter’s connotations with science fiction, the CEO emphasized the importance of understanding the reality of the technology’s potential. “We have to be very serious about when this actually happens, what is possible and what exists. What are the bounds that are provided by physics, by the limits in human institutions, what’s left after we consider those,” he said. “Those barriers really will be truly radical, but it will have limits, and it’s high time that we start thinking about that. Almost none of that is in the public conversation.”
The event was held just after President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term in the White House in Washington, D.C.. His inauguration was attended by billionaire Elon Musk, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple boss Tim Cook, and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai.
Elaborating on his previous comments about the influence of industrialists on government, Amodei said, “We’re probably hitting similar levels of wealth concentration as we had in the mid-to-late 19th century. I think John Rockefeller, his wealth was equivalent to something like 1.5% of the U.S. GDP in the late 19th century. We’re now reaching that rate with Elon Musk as well. And I do have a concern that, without intervention, AI will make that even more extreme, make it five or 10 times more extreme, and I think that is undesirable.”
Looking forward to AI developments he expects in the year ahead, Amodei predicted the rise of “virtual collaborators” that operate “a lot like a co-worker.”
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“There’s going to be a lot of debate about how to use them, the economic value that they create. But also, are they safe? Are they wreaking havoc? And perhaps most important of all, what about the human economy? What about job displacement?” he said.
While Amodei was the keynote speaker at the TIME 100 Davos dinner, other leaders gave toasts about how they think new technology can help the world. Obiageli Ezekwesili, president of Human Capital Africa and former vice president at the World Bank for the Africa region, shared her hopes for the potential of technology in the continent. “Whereas Africa missed out on the agrarian revolution, missed out on the industrial revolution, which remarkably transformed our societies in the world, Africa is on board the train for information and communication technology,” she said, “and with even brighter hopes through artificial intelligence.
She said that in Africa, “Technology is leveling a playing field, ensuring that talent and determination, not privilege, is basically driving success.” She also spoke about how technology is unleashing the talents of women and young people in Africa, “amplifying their points, scaling their ideas and connecting their efforts to economic opportunities beyond their others.”
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Speaking about what gives her hope, Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said, “I’m increasingly optimistic, even though it’s not an unmitigated blessing, that technology can help” with the three challenges of weak economic growth around the world, climate change, and aging demographics.
Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, made a call to be “brave enough to take action to stop aggression” during her toast. “In the Ukrainian language, the word ‘freedom’ has one more meaning: it’s ‘will,’” she said. “So if we want true freedom, we must have will for peace, will for security guarantee, will for sanction policy, will for mutual support, will to invest in Ukraine and strengthen our economy, and will to make the right choice for the future of our country.”
The TIME100 Davos Dinner was presented by SOMPO, Diriyah Company, Technology Innovation Institute, Brandi, and Fortescue.
