FTI Consulting News Bytes – 24 January 2025

FTI Consulting News Bytes

We kick off this week’s newsletter by looking back at Davos 2025 and the AI mania that’s gripped this year’s conference, and the UK’s growing role as a global investment hotspot. We then turn our attention to increased efforts to tackle hate speech by Big Tech under the Digital Markets Act before covering important developments in the new Trump administration

This week’s news

AI mania taking over Davos 2025 

AI has taken centre stage at the World Economic Forum this year, particularly along the iconic Davos Promenade, which has become a hotspot for AI-driven products, according to CNBC. Major players like Intel, Salesforce, and Workday have jumped on the AI branding bandwagon, showcasing their innovations front and centre. A recent poll from Accenture revealed a significant shift, with 58% of executives now expecting generative AI solutions to be widely adopted in their organizations by 2025—up from just 37% last year. This surge in AI presence follows last year’s Davos, where AI branding began to overshadow crypto, coinciding with the growing popularity of ChatGPT. At this year’s forum, key discussions are centred on the rapid advancements in AI, along with concerns about the potential risks of these swiftly evolving technologies. Topics such as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and AI agents are also sparking significant debate. 

UK shines as global investment hotspot at Davos 

According to The Guardian, the UK has risen to second place in PwC’s annual survey of global CEOs as a top destination for investment, trailing only the US. Published ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the survey highlights a record-high ranking for the UK, attributed to its relative stability and strengths in key sectors like technology. Chancellor Rachel Reeves emphasised that international investment is crucial for driving economic growth and improving living standards, while announcing plans to meet business leaders to promote the UK as a business-friendly hub.  

Big tech tightens grip on hate speech under EU rules 

Reuters reports that big tech companies, including Microsoft, TikTok, and Instagram, have strengthened their commitment to tackling online hate speech under an updated EU code of conduct tied to the Digital Services Act (DSA). The revised code requires companies to allow external experts to monitor hate speech reviews and promises faster processing, with two-thirds of flagged content to be assessed within 24 hours. New measures include automated detection tools, transparency on recommendation algorithms, and detailed country-level data on hate speech classifications like race, religion, and gender identity. Compliance with this code could impact regulators’ enforcement of the DSA, underscoring the EU’s firm stance against illegal content online. 

Trump rolls back Biden’s AI safety order 

US President Donald Trump has revoked a 2023 executive order by Joe Biden aimed at mitigating risks from AI to national security, consumers, and workers, TechCrunch reports. Biden’s order required AI developers to share safety test results for high-risk systems with the government before release and directed agencies to establish safety standards for testing. Biden also issued a separate order last week to support energy needs for advanced AI data centers, which remains intact, even as new US export restrictions on AI technology face industry criticism. 

The Stargate Project: the largest AI infrastructure initiative in history  

Donald Trump has announced what he called “the largest AI infrastructure project in history” – a $500 billion venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aimed at building a vast network of data centres across the United States. Dubbed “Stargate”, the partnership seeks to establish critical data centres and computing infrastructure to fuel AI development, with Trump claiming it will create over 100,000 jobs in the US “almost immediately.” According to BBC News, this marks one of Trump’s first major business initiatives since his return to office and comes as the US seeks to maintain its competitive edge over China in AI advancements. “China and others are competitors. We want this to stay in the US,” Trump stated during the White House event, joined by Oracle’s Larry Ellison, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. 

Top Tweets of the Week 

• Zoe Kleinman, BBC Technology Editor (19 January): TikTok has taken matters into its own hands and disabled its US platform, hours ahead of the looming legal ban. I suspect this is a symbolic gesture that it hopes will be a temporary measure until Trump becomes president tomorrow – but putting Trump under pressure like this may not go down well either. 
• Dan Primack, Business Editor of Axios: There has definitely been some Wall Street giddiness in Davos, but bankers seem downright pessimistic compared to the crypto folks. 
• Ingrid Lunden, Europe Editor at TechCrunch: Neko, the body-scanning startup co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, snaps up $260M at a $1.8B valuation tip @Techmeme

Number of the week

18.9m The number of subscribers Netflix added in Q4 2024, according to The Times