Music’s Descent into the AI Abyss

Davos AI Talks

Anthropic X Teach For All

Various AI Hardware Efforts

Conversations and company presence at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos were dominated by AI’s commercial and economic impact, with leaders from TSMC, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Microsoft, and others signaling large-scale investment and transformation across industries.

AI’s implications for the labor market were front and center, with enterprise leaders expecting significant headcount reductions as AI efficiency tools are widely deployed, even as tech leaders offer differing timelines for when strong AI or AGI might arrive.

Politics, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech and geopolitical tensions over issues like Greenland and U.S.–Europe trade relations, ran alongside AI conversation, prompting executives to reevaluate global tech dependencies and investment strategies.

OpenAI’s policy chief confirmed at Axios House in Davos that the company is “on track” to unveil its first AI hardware device in the second half of 2026, though shipping may not happen until later.

The project is being designed with help from Jony Ive’s design team (formerly the company io, now part of OpenAI), and the team just added veteran Apple engineer Janum Trivedi, known for key iPadOS features.

This marks a major shift for OpenAI beyond software like ChatGPT; the device remains mysterious, but hints point to a unique, possibly audio-focused interface rather than a traditional screen gadget.

ElevenLabs have launched an 11 track album, spanning genres from Rap to EDM, in collaboration with grammy winners and industry legends such as Liza Minelli and Art Garfunkel.

Garfunkel makes the point that “music has always evolved alongside technology” while the human always “remains at the center”. I appreciate the sentiment and acknowledge that AI is going to unlock some really cool musical applications, particularly in the field of sound design and synthesis. I also remain sceptical and concerned about the average listener’s ability to discern the differences between original music and derivative yet unsloppy AI music. As the market floods, the small guy is going to have an awfully hard time standing out. I have a feeling this could be the death of indie music as a career.

Anthropic announced a major partnership with Teach For All to give 100,000+ teachers in 63 countries access to AI tools and training, helping them build AI fluency and tailor Claude for classroom needs across diverse education systems.

The initiative’s AI Literacy & Creator Collective (LCC) combines structured learning sessions, community collaboration, and experimentation opportunities that empower teachers as co-creators shaping how AI is used educationally rather than passive users.

Early teacher stories—like building interactive climate curricula and gamified math tools—show how educators are already applying AI creatively, with feedback loops feeding into product evolution and future training.