What the debate is about
The directions the rounds are assembled from, and the topics where the debate is sharpest. The full wording of the questions stays with the moderator — some of them will be asked in the room.
Question categories
The areas the debate rounds are assembled from.
- Frontier AI models and AGI
- AI agents and autonomous companies
- Multimodal AI and computer vision
- Generative AI: text, images, video and audio
- Decentralised AI
- Open models and open source AI
- AI safety and control of frontier models
- AI alignment and the values of AI
- AI and human labour
- AI and the future of professions
- AI in corporate management
- AI in finance and investment
- AI in marketing and sales
- AI in media and journalism
- Synthetic media and deepfakes
- AI and education
- AI in medicine
- AI and pharmaceuticals
- AI in biotechnology
- Genomics and gene editing
- Quantum computing
- Quantum AI and quantum machine learning
- Post-quantum cryptography
- Quantum communications
- Quantum sensors
- Robotics and physical AI
- Humanoid robots
- Autonomous systems and drones
- Autonomous transport
- Industrial robotisation
- AI + IoT and smart infrastructure
- Cybersecurity in the age of AI
- AI attacks and autonomous cybercrime
- Identity, digital ID and biometrics
- Personal data and privacy
- AI surveillance and mass monitoring
- Cloud computing and sovereign cloud
- AI chips, ASIC, GPU and compute infrastructure
- Energy and AI data centres
- The semantic internet and the AI-native web
- XR, spatial computing and smart glasses
- Neurointerfaces and brain-computer interfaces
- Synthetic biology and biocomputing
- Space technology and AI in space
- Climate technology and AI
- AI metaverses
The topics where the debate is sharpest
A short note on why each topic is contested right now.
Topic
Why it is especially contested now
Frontier AI and agents
Agents are moving from answers to actions and tool use; responsibility and autonomy become practical questions.
AI regulation
The EU AI Act became applicable on 2 August 2026, with certain exemptions and transition periods.
Quantum + AI
Hybrid approaches are appearing, including GenQAI for pharmaceutical tasks and quantum circuit synthesis.
Post-quantum
Large companies are accelerating migration; an earlier deadline for quantum-threat readiness is under discussion.
Humanoid robots
In 2026 humanoid shipments and pilots grew sharply, especially in industry and logistics.
AI cybersecurity
AI lowers the cost and raises the speed of attacks; at the same time AI is becoming a defence tool.
Privacy + smart glasses
Cameras and AI assistants in glasses have sharpened questions of consent, recording people and corporate surveillance.
AI chips
Competition between GPUs, custom ASICs and specialised accelerators is growing; capital spending on AI infrastructure is becoming a systemic issue.
AI + energy
The expansion of data centres increases local load on power systems and intensifies the debate about the cost of AI infrastructure.
RWA / tokenization
Tokenization of bonds, funds, equities and other assets is moving from experiments to real pilots.
Stablecoins
Regulatory regimes for payment stablecoins are becoming part of financial infrastructure.
Digital ID / biometrics
AI improves the quality of identification but at the same time raises the risks of mass surveillance and identity theft.
BCI
Neural interfaces are moving from science fiction to clinical and applied scenarios; neuroprivacy questions are growing.
Space + AI
Satellite constellations are scaling, and AI is becoming part of data processing, communications and autonomous space systems.
Climate + AI
AI can optimise energy and climate processes, but itself demands significant compute and energy resources.