Large investments in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies could lead to the development of bubbles, according to Børge Brende, president, World Economic Forum (WEF).

Børge Brende, president, World Economic Forum

“There is definitely a geopolitical disorder … But even in the situation of geopolitical disorder, the global economy has been incredibly resilient – not necessarily in Europe but in India, China and the USA,” Brende said in Berlin.

He noted that this was being fuelled by investments in new technologies like AI.

“This year has seen $US500 billion ($A762 billion) of investments in AI alone. So, what we can be worried about is that there may be bubbles developing, be it a bubble on crypto or an AI bubble,” Brende said.

The WEF head said investors need to be patient with these investments.

But he also said that frontier technologies would be the new drivers of growth.

“We will also need to make sure that the new technologies and the benefits trickle down. We could even see productivity gains of 10 per cent in the coming decade. And productivity is prosperity,” Brende said.

He described the new technologies as “a big paradigm shift” and predicted breakthroughs in medicine, synthetical biology, space and energy.

“AI can accelerate processes so quickly,” he said.

The Norwegian has taken over from WEF founder Klaus Schwab.

The forum holds an annual conference in Davos in the Swiss Alps attended by world political and economic leaders.

The 56th conference is scheduled for January 19-23, 2026.

Brende also expressed concern about global crises and conflicts.

“There is definitely a geopolitical disorder: the world order we had is not there anymore. What is the next world order? Hopefully not the law of the jungle,” he said.

And, in a reference to current US tariff policy, he said that uncertainty was the highest tariff.

“One of my worries is that global investments are going down. We need to re-establish an environment for investments,” he said.

Brende said the current competition between the United States and China was “basically a competition for hegemony or dominance in technology. The country that leads in new technologies – be it quantum, superintelligence, AI, autonomous vehicles or synthetical biology – will also be the most powerful nation coming out of this century,” he predicted.

And he called for multilateral action to deal with “problems that don’t travel with a passport,” including pandemics and cybercrime.

The world is becoming more complicated with different groups forming, Brende said.

He pointed to a G4 of the US, China, Europe and India, followed by fast-growing economies like Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Brazil.

“It’s going to be a renaissance for mega-regional, so-called plurilateral, deals. But the world is going to be more complicated. There are going to be more suboptimal, not necessarily cost-effective solutions. There is going to be more friendshoring,” he said.

Facebook, a social media platform owned by Meta, hosted its first-ever Facebook Lounge experience at Lagos Fashion Week 2025, creating an immersive space that celebrated creativity, connection and community among young adults, designers, fashion enthusiasts and creators.

Betty Ansah, Nonye Udeogu and Oluwasola Obagbemi at the Facebook lounge

The three-day event featured interactive sessions, live interviews and engaging activities aimed at showcasing how Facebook tools such as Marketplace, Reels, Groups and Meta AI are helping Nigerian creators build communities and turn their passions into opportunities.

Oluwasola Obagbemi, Meta’s Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa, said Facebook continues to be a leading platform for conversations around cultural moments in Nigeria and globally.

“Events like Lagos Fashion Week highlight how our platform brings people together to celebrate creativity, culture and community in real time,” she said.

Obagbemi noted that fashion is now the largest category on Facebook Marketplace in Nigeria, with young adults increasingly using the platform to discover new interests and express themselves.

The Lounge featured live interviews hosted by media presenter Joseph Onaolapo, popularly known as Jay On-Air, and fashion creator Nonye Udeogu, also known as Thisthingcalledfashion.

The duo engaged guests and online audiences with insights into how creators use Facebook tools to build meaningful connections.

Guests at the Lounge enjoyed photo sessions, Facebook-themed games and the Reels Booth, where attendees captured short-form videos reflecting the energy of Lagos Fashion Week.

Facebook said it remains committed to empowering people to explore their interests, build community and connect with the world in more meaningful ways.

Users’ digital footprints have been building up for years. Social media accounts, old comments, carelessly posted photos, message boards, and old marketplace listings — everything that each individual user has ever shared online remains there, potentially causing serious retroactive issues for the poster.

This information may be of interest to potential employers, government agencies, advertisers, scammers and even exes. HR departments often conduct thorough online background checks on candidates before hiring. Additionally, data obtained through the use of shady services that search for leaked information from data breaches can be used for doxing and harassment purposes.

Kaspersky shares guidelines on how to manage your personal digital footprint and minimise the amount of private information available to everyone online.

Google yourself regularly

By searching for yourself, you’ll first see exactly where you once registered (and perhaps forgot about), and second, you’ll be able to check for any fake or impersonating accounts using your name.

Get rid of old accounts and posts

Once you’ve dealt with the fake accounts and compiled a list of your genuine ones, it’s time to delete the superfluous and outdated ones. Don’t rely entirely on the initial search or your own memory.

Dig deep into your email archives to see which sites and services message you as their user. You can also review the list of saved passwords in your browsers or password managers.

Dealing with shadow profiles

Unfortunately, the accounts you’ve registered are only half the battle. Sometimes social media sites generate shadow profiles containing data on you that may persist even after you delete your account. These profiles can include information you never directly shared with the service. For example, you might have granted the Facebook app access to your phone contacts without ever importing them into your account. All the data from your address book could end up in that shadow profile.

Even more unsettling, sometimes these accounts get created for users who’ve never even registered with the service, by gathering data from other platforms and open sources. While it’s nearly impossible to completely prevent shadow profiles from being created, you can minimise the damage. Go through your old apps and revoke their access to your sensitive data — things like your camera, photos, contacts, location, and so on. Going forward, meticulously monitor which permissions you grant to each new app.

Set up data breach notifications

Data leaks happen online virtually every day, exposing massive amounts of personal data: IP addresses, names, phone numbers, email addresses, payment info, and much more. Websites like Have I Been Pwned allow you to enter your email and get alerts if it shows up in a new leaked database.

However, for a comprehensive approach and greater convenience, it’s best to monitor leaks through Kaspersky Premium — we search for breaches using both email addresses and phone numbers.

You can add all your email addresses and phone numbers (for yourself and your family) and be confident that we’ll warn you about a breach almost immediately, thanks to the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) – our global threat intelligence infrastructure.

Unfortunately, preventing leaks single-handedly is an impossible task for the average user. So, the best defence is to limit how much personal data you share when registering new accounts.

Clean up your inbox

An email inbox overflowing with old messages that contain private information is also part of your digital footprint. Go through your mail using keywords like “password”, “SSN”, or “account”, and delete any emails containing this sensitive data. Unsubscribe from old mailing lists. This lowers the chance that your email address will leak from a marketer’s database.

Erase local traces

Don’t forget to regularly — at least once a month — clear your browser history, cookies, and cache on all your devices. Alternatively, set up your browser to clear this data automatically when you close it. This lessens the chance of an outsider collecting information from your device if they gain access to it.

On smartphones, it’s advised to disable or periodically reset your advertising identifier.

Review your privacy settings

You can check and adjust privacy and security settings through our free service, Privacy Checker. It will guide you on how to configure popular social platforms, services, and even operating systems to your desired level of privacy.