Dispatch from Davos: hot air, big egos and cold flexes | MIT Technology Review

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By Mat Honanarchive pageJanuary 22, 2026Chip Somodevilla/Getty This story first appeared in The Debrief, our subscriber-only newsletter about the biggest news in tech by Mat Honan, Editor in Chief. Subscribe to read the next edition as soon as it lands. It’s supposed to be frigid in Davos this time of year. Part of the charm is seeing the world’s elite tromp through the streets in respectable suits and snow boots. But this year it’s positively balmy, with highs in the mid 30s, or a little over 1°C. The current conditions when I flew out of New York were colder, and definitely snowier. I’m told this is due to something called a föhn, a dry warm wind that’s been blowing across the Alps.  I’m no meteorologist, but it’s true that there is a lot of hot air here.  On Wednesday, President Donald Trump arrived in Davos to address the assembly, and held forth for more than 90 minutes, weaving his way through remarks about the economy, Greenland, windmills, Switzerland, Rolexes, Venezuela, and drug prices. It was a talk lousy with gripes, grievances and outright falsehoods. 
One small example: Trump made a big deal of claiming that China, despite being the world leader in manufacturing windmill componentry, doesn’t actually use them for energy generation itself. In fact, it is the world leader in generation, as well.  I did not get to watch this spectacle from the room itself. Sad! 
By the time I got to the Congress Hall where the address was taking place, there was already a massive scrum of people jostling to get in.  I had just wrapped up moderating a panel on “the intelligent co-worker,” ie: AI agents in the workplace. I was really excited for this one as the speakers represented a diverse cross-section of the AI ecosystem. Christoph Schweizer, CEO of BCG had the macro strategic view; Enrique Lores, HP CEO, could speak to both hardware and large enterprises, Workera CEO Kian Katanforoosh has the inside view on workforce training and transformation, Manjul Shah CEO of Hippocratic AI addressed working in the high stakes field of healthcare, and Kate Kallot CEO of Amini AI gave perspective on the global south and Africa in particular.  Interestingly, most of the panel shied away from using the term co-worker, and some even rejected the term agent. But the view they painted was definitely one of humans working alongside AI and augmenting what’s possible. Shah, for example, talked about having agents call 16,000 people in Texas during a heat wave to perform a health and safety check. It was a great discussion. You can watch the whole thing here.  But by the time it let out, the push of people outside the Congress Hall was already too thick for me to get in. In fact I couldn’t even get into a nearby overflow room. I did make it into a third overflow room, but getting in meant navigating my way through a mass of people, so jammed in tight together that it reminded me of being at a Turnstile concert.  The speech blew way past its allotted time, and I had to step out early to get to yet another discussion. Walking through the halls while Trump spoke was a truly surreal experience. He had truly captured the attention of the gathered global elite. I don’t think I saw a single person not starting at a laptop, or phone or iPad, all watching the same video.  Trump is speaking again on Thursday in a previously unscheduled address to announce his Board of Peace. As is (I heard) Elon Musk. So it’s shaping up to be another big day for elite attention capture.  I should say, though, there are elites, and then there are elites. And there are all sorts of ways of sorting out who is who. Your badge color is one of them. I have a white participant badge, because I was moderating panels. This gets you in pretty much anywhere and therefore is its own sort of status symbol. Where you are staying is another. I’m in Klosters, a neighboring town that’s a 40 minute train ride away from the Congress Centre. Not so elite.  There are more subtle ways of status sorting, too. Yesterday I learned that when people ask if this is your first time at Davos, it’s sometimes meant as a way of trying to figure out how important you are. If you’re any kind of big deal, you’ve probably been coming for years. 

But the best one I’ve yet encountered happened when I made small talk with the woman sitting next to me as I changed back into my snow boots. It turned out that, like me, she lived in California–at least part time. “But I don’t think I’ll stay there much longer,” she said, “due to the new tax law.” This was just an ice cold flex.  Because California’s newly proposed tax legislation? It only targets billionaires.  Welcome to Davos. by Mat HonanShareShare story on linkedinShare story on facebookShare story on emailPopular10 Breakthrough Technologies 2026Amy NordrumThe great AI hype correction of 2025Will Douglas HeavenChina figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to deal with their aging batteries.Caiwei ChenThe 8 worst technology flops of 2025Antonio RegaladoKeep ReadingMost Popular10 Breakthrough Technologies 2026Here are our picks for the advances to watch in the years ahead—and why we think they matter right now.
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By Caiwei Chenarchive pageThe 8 worst technology flops of 2025The Cybertruck, sycophantic AI, and humanoid robots all made this year’s list of the biggest technology failures.
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The 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, presented a familiar tableau of elite gatherings, tactical maneuvers, and, as Mat Honan observes, a distinct “hot air” environment. The core of Honan’s dispatch centers around the inherent dynamics of a space populated by global leaders, technologists, and business executives, highlighting the subtle and overt ways status is established and maintained. The overriding theme is the performance of influence and the competitive nature of attention within this rarefied setting.

Honan’s account meticulously details the superficial markers of status within the Davos ecosystem. The participant badge, a seemingly simple identifier, quickly reveals itself as a powerful symbol of access and importance. Those with white badges, signifying participation in panel discussions, occupy a distinct position of influence compared to those residing in neighboring towns like Klosters, where the accommodations suggest a more removed, and therefore less central, role. The story subtly underscores the calculated nature of these distinctions – the ability to be present, to be visible, to be part of the conversation.

Beyond the logistical, Honan exposes the competitive element inherent in simply being *there*. The arrival of Donald Trump, for instance, immediately creates a focal point, a performance for the assembled global elite. His 90-minute address, brimming with grievances and demonstrable falsehoods, serves not just as a policy statement but as another opportunity to command attention and project an image of power – a “flex,” as Honan succinctly describes it. The frenzied scramble for seats, the pervasive use of laptops and smartphones, demonstrates that Davos is not simply a location; it’s a stage, carefully curated by its participants.

The panel discussion on “the intelligent co-worker” – AI agents in the workplace – provides another lens through which to examine the dynamics. The diverse range of speakers, from BCG’s Christoph Schweizer to Workera’s Kian Katanforoosh, offered varied perspectives on the integration of AI, yet the reluctance to explicitly use the term “agent” reveals a strategic attempt to shape the conversation, manage perception, and maintain a degree of control over the narrative. The shared anxiety surrounding "agent" terminology demonstrates a level of awareness about the potentially disruptive connotations of the term.

However, it's not just established figures who play a role in shaping the atmosphere. Honan’s observations regarding the California tax law and the “flex” exhibited by a woman making small talk highlight the accessibility of this kind of status signaling, even for the wealthy. The ability to demonstrate privileged access—to be connected to and impacted by the most elite policy discussions—becomes another tool in the arsenal of those seeking to assert their influence. This moment encapsulates the broader point: Davos isn’t just about high-level diplomacy; it’s about demonstrating belonging to the highest tier.

Ultimately, Honan’s dispatch offers a critical commentary on the performative nature of global power structures. The pursuit of attention, the strategic deployment of status symbols, and the underlying competitive dynamics are all revealed as central to the function of the World Economic Forum in Davos. It’s a vivid snapshot of a world where appearances often matter more than substance, and where the “hot air” of global gatherings is inextricably linked to the ambitions of those who inhabit them.