Here's what's up for Jan. 23, 2026.
• The AI Vibe at Davos
• Intel Shares Swing to Loss
• TikTok Finalizes a U.S. Deal

Good morning. An historic week of meetings in Davos reflected what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described as a rupture of the post-World War II global order of institutions and rules. There was however, one area of consensus, and that’s over the power and significance of AI.

WSJ Leadership Institute President Alan Murray has been in the thick of it all week, in constant conversation with CEOs including Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi and HPE's Antonio Neri. (Click here to find links to each of those interviews.)

I asked Alan to share his understanding of what global corporate leaders really think about AI, which will have major consequences for the way we all work and live. Here are his insights, informed by deep experience covering earlier tech cycles:

Unbridled optimism. The storefronts of the Promenade had been transformed into corporate pavilions for consultants and tech providers all touting the benefits of AI. Top tech executives swarmed the streets.  At a dinner with 60 CEOs that the WSJ Leadership Institute hosted Thursday, I asked the tables to debate the biggest opportunities and risks of 2026. There was spirited debate around the risks - geopolitics, job displacement, social unrest. But there was a clear consensus on the opportunity: AI.

I couldn’t find anybody who didn’t believe the potential was substantial - and not just for 10 to 20% productivity improvements inside companies, but for fundamentally reinventing how they create value for customers. The only question is time. Corporations are inherently slow to change, one CEO told me. But those who move too slowly risk being left behind.

That was acknowledged as a problem that required CEO leadership. Several said CEOs need to be candid with their employees. Is there a risk AI could displace jobs? Sure. But there is also a risk that failure to embrace AI could cost the company even more jobs.

I was in Davos in January of 2000, right before the Internet bubble burst, and the mood was similarly ebullient. I remember seeing Masayoshi Son gushing about his purchase of Buy.com, saying the company was going to “sell you anything you want at a price less than they paid for it.”

But most of the CEOs I spoke with this week shrugged off the risks of a bubble. The stock market may get ahead of things and have to correct. But the push toward widespread AI adoption was unstoppable. And the benefits for both business and society, they believe, will be enormous.

Have you been following the AI conversation at Davos? Let us know what you think.

🎥 The WSLI's Davos CEO Brief. The full slate of interviews

🎥 Why Uber Is Letting AI Use “Common Sense” in Customer Service

🎥 NTT DATA Group CEO: 2026 Will Be the Year of the “AI Agent”

🎥 Cisco’s AI Pivot: Rebuilding the Tech Stack From the Ground Up

🎥 Schneider Electric: AI’s Energy Appetite Is Forcing a New Global Race

While CEOs in the Alps were practically exuberant about AI’s promise, at least one executive was feeling none of that altitude high.

“I’m disappointed that we are not able to fully meet the demand in our markets,” Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan told analysts after the company posted a fourth-quarter loss and warned of deeper losses in early 2026.

Intel shares fell more than 12% in after-hours trading.

CFO David Zinsner pointed to “industrywide supply shortages” as a factor weighing on results and said the problem would worsen in the first quarter or 2026.

Another factor: Intel hadn’t anticipated a surge in demand for CPUs from data centers serving AI models, according to Zinsner. The  company was purchasing equipment to produce more wafers.

The results underscore how Intel is getting squeezed from both sides of the AI boom. Demand is spiking, but it still lacks the ability  to capitalize on it.

Intel also disappointed analysts with a lack of news about customers for its next generation of chips based on Intel’s 14A manufacturing technology. Intel said it would not be investing in factory capacity until it signed up a customer.

Intel projected a loss per share of 21 cents for the first quarter of 2026 and revenue between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion.

The administration is taking different tacks on China this week.

On Thursday TikTok finalized a that would allow it to keep operating in the U.S., resolving a yearslong fight to address Washington’s national-security concerns.

Under the terms of the deal, the video-sharing app will be operated by a new U.S. entity controlled by investors seen as friendly to the U.S. Oracle, private-equity firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will each own 15% of the new entity while existing TikTok investors own about 30%.

TikTok's data-management and algorithm-training on American users will be overseen by Oracle.

At the same time, the Trump administration has pushed out two officials tasked with countering technological threats from China, a move that has unsettled U.S. officials and security hawks, the WSJ reports.

The departures from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security mark the latest removal of personnel working on China-related national-security issues. Trump has recently agreed to sell Nvidia AI chips to Chinese customers and last year dismissed several National Security Council members.

Amazon is preparing another major round of layoffs, aiming to cut about 14,000 jobs across AWS, retail, Prime Video and human resources, Reuters reports.

The move would follow last year’s cuts and come as AI enables large companies to streamline operations and reduce headcount. Amazon, which employs about 1.55 million people globally, previously signaled deeper restructuring. CEO Andy Jassy said in June that AI would mean “fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today” and more in new roles.

Autodesk plans to cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 7% of its workforce, as part of a global restructuring plan, WSJ reports. The AutoCAD maker said a significant portion of the job cuts will be within customer-facing sales functions.

Agentic commerce is barely underway, and already one major marketplace is drawing a line. Ars Technica reports that eBay will prohibit “buy-for-me agents” and any technology capable of placing orders without human oversight. 

Never mind that Tesla’s robotaxis currently only toodle around small, geofenced areas in Austin and San Francisco—and often with human safety supervisors in tow. By year’s end, Elon Musk told Davos attendees Thursday, the U.S. will have a “widespread” network of driverless Tesla robotaxis. CNBC notes that Tesla has yet to secure permits to test or operate fully autonomous vehicles on public roads.

David A. Duffield, the founder of PeopleSoft and Workday, is giving $371.5 million to Cornell University, largely to endow the Ivy League school’s engineering college, which will be named after him.

Join us for a deep dive into the challenges that CFOs and other top executives are seeking to overcome, including the impact of tariffs and geopolitical conflicts on corporate finance and private equity.

Have a question you’d like to submit in advance? Send your question to wsjcorporate@dowjones.com and we’ll address your questions during the Q&A.

The West avoided an open rupture this week. But, instead of celebrating, European leaders are bracing for more serious shocks to the trans-Atlantic relationship in the months ahead. (WSJ)

CEOs have tried their hardest to stay on the political sidelines since President Trump started his second term—and mostly succeeded. Now the pushback against the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis is pulling more of them in. (WSJ)

Natural-gas prices have jumped 63% this week in response to forecasts calling for some of the coldest, snowiest weather in years to freeze the country from the West Texas desert to the Great Lakes. (WSJ)

The WSJ CIO Journal Team is Steven Rosenbush, Isabelle Bousquette and Belle Lin.

The editor, Tom Loftus, can be reached at thomas.loftus@wsj.com.