From Davos, Patrick Moorhead speaks with MBZUAI President Eric Xing about why world models may define the next frontier of AI research, how to recognize progress beyond narrow intelligence, and what role universities play in balancing innovation, openness, and responsibility.
As AI research pushes beyond pattern recognition, foundational questions are resurfacing about what progress should actually look like. Growth for growth’s sake alone is no longer a sufficient answer.
From Davos, Patrick Moorhead sits down with Eric Xing, President of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), to challenge the assumption that bigger models alone will carry AI forward. The focus shifts to why real progress depends on systems that can reason, plan, and interact with the world, not just absorb more data. Xing also presses on the stakes for academia as AI becomes entangled with geopolitics, regulation, and national strategy, arguing that universities now sit on the front line, defending open research, reshaping education for an AI-native era, and deciding how innovation advances with intent rather than inertia.
Key Takeaways Include:
🔷 World models signal a shift in AI research priorities:
Progress toward more general intelligence may require systems that model the world and can reason about it, rather than simply scaling language models.
🔷 Today’s AI remains fundamentally limited:
Despite rapid advances, current systems still lack the planning, reasoning, and adaptability that define more general forms of intelligence.
🔷 Open science is under pressure:
Rising geopolitical tensions around AI sovereignty and compute are reshaping how universities and research institutions operate globally.
🔷 Responsible acceleration is becoming a leadership challenge:
Balancing innovation speed with societal impact now requires deliberate choices, not default momentum.
🔷 Higher education must adapt quickly:
Universities face urgent decisions about what to stop teaching and what to prioritize in preparing students for an AI-native decade.
Learn more at MBZUIA.
Listen to the audio here:
Disclaimer: Six Five Media’s The View from Davos is for information and entertainment purposes only. Over the course of this webcast, we may talk about companies that are publicly traded, and we may even reference that fact and their equity share price, but please do not take anything that we say as a recommendation about what you should do with your investment dollars. We are not investment advisors, and we ask that you do not treat us as such.
MORE VIDEOS
Innovation to Product: How AWS Goes from Science to Service – Six Five On the Road
Swami Sivasubramanian, VP, Agentic AI at AWS, joins Patrick Moorhead to discuss how the AWS innovation engine transforms research breakthroughs into real-world cloud services shaping digital transformation.
The View from Davos with Wedbush’s Daniel Ives
Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities joins Daniel Newman from Davos to discuss why AI adoption is entering a monetization phase, how enterprise software and modernization are driving ROI, and why the current cycle looks more like the early stages of a long-term buildout than a speculative bubble.
The View from Davos with Check Point CEO Nadav Zafrir
From Davos, Check Point CEO Nadav Zafrir joins Daniel Newman to discuss why cybersecurity has become a foundational requirement for AI transformation, and how prevention-first strategies and AI-powered defense are essential as agents move into real-world systems.
Other Categories
CYBERSECURITY
Threat Intelligence: Insights on Cybersecurity from Secureworks
Alex Rose from Secureworks joins Shira Rubinoff on the Cybersphere to share his insights on the critical role of threat intelligence in modern cybersecurity efforts, underscoring the importance of proactive, intelligence-driven defense mechanisms.
HP Launches World’s First Business PCs to Protect Against Quantum Hacks - The Six Five On the Road
On this episode of the Six Five - On the Road, hosts Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman are joined by HP's Ian Pratt, Global Head of Security for Personal Systems.
What is Autonomous Endpoint Management?
Autonomous Endpoint Management is a framework designed to unify IT operations and security teams on a single platform through real-time control and visibility.
QUANTUM
Quantum in Action: Insights and Applications with Matt Kinsella
Quantum is no longer a technology of the future; the quantum opportunity is here now. During this keynote conversation, Infleqtion CEO, Matt Kinsella will explore the latest quantum developments and how organizations can best leverage quantum to their advantage.
Accelerating Breakthrough Quantum Applications with Neutral Atoms
Our planet needs major breakthroughs for a more sustainable future and quantum computing promises to provide a path to new solutions in a variety of industry segments. This talk will explore what it takes for quantum computers to be able to solve these significant computational challenges, and will show that the timeline to addressing valuable applications may be sooner than previously thought.