Technology and Politics are the New Tectonic Plates

Gone are the times when defence would drive geopolitics, the seat has now been taken by technology. How do the tables rearrange themselves in this new world? The equator of this world does change a lot when the lines of AI get horizontal instead of vertical – how? Purushottam Kaushik, Head, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum helps us to decipher the economics, politics and ethics of technology in this chat done at the Zinnov Confluence 2025 (where AI was explored from many dimensions, by many hats and through many interesting huddles).

- Pratima H

What is the view from your room like? Do you also see AI dominating everything now?

AI is, for sure, the current talk of the town and dominating many discussions. My session at Davos and visits to China show the same pattern. But what is interesting is how AI is going horizontal. Now we are talking of AI in bio, in healthcare etc. AI governance and ethics have also become hot topics. At the same time, there is chatter on quantum computing, biotech, autonomous technology (drones and cars). Of course, recently, defence has become a big topic. We are also witnessing discussions on quantum computing and compute power. A lot of unresolved issues are now in the front-row. Like precision medicine or exploring longevity. There is also interest in chips, essential minerals—and, again, on a horizontal level. No one imagined geopolitics to get to the state it is now got in. No one imagined China and Taiwan becoming choking-points of the world.