Tariffs loom as the elephant in the room at TED
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The annual TED conference is designed to help business and cultural leaders think long-term, but that's proving tough this year with the global economy in turmoil.
State of play: TED talks are planned months in advance and tend to avoid the news of the day. But President Trump's tariff turnabouts have kept attendees' devices buzzing and flashing.
- "In the last hour, I learned that there's a 90-day pause [on the tariffs]," Serve Robotics CEO Ali Kashani told Axios during a break between sessions on Wednesday.
- "Then I learned that China is an exception. Then I learned that, no, actually it's 10% on everybody still. And I actually don't know if any of these are true, right?"
- Ross Rosenberg, CEO of mixed reality company Magic Leap, said he has been trying to calm frightened employees from afar while also trying to absorb TED's long-term focus.
- "It's distracting," he said, noting that part of what lets him normally focus on the future is feeling secure about the current moment — a feeling distinctly lacking this year. "I feel very unmoored in the present," he added.
The big picture: Economic uncertainty for attendees comes amid a time of considerable change for the venerable tech and culture conference. After a decade in Vancouver, organizers have announced next year will be its last in the Canadian city, with the 2027 conference headed to an unspecified city in California.
- Meanwhile, longtime organizer Chris Anderson has said he plans to step down.
- TED has retained a banker to see which organization, business or institution is best suited to run the conference going forward.
- More than 60 entities have expressed interest so far, organizers said.
Inside the room: The tension was palpable, particularly on Monday, the first day of the conference.
- "There's a lot of 'Why am I at TED when the world is exploding?,'" one attendee told Axios. "That's the vibe."
- At dinners around Vancouver on Tuesday, many attendees tried to shrug off the worries. At a wine tasting, one person saw the news of 104 percent tariffs on China and lifted a glass and said, "Oh well."
- The mood lifted Wednesday as Trump announced plans for a 90-day pause. While not a resolution, the move allowed many to focus more on the conference and less on the texts and Slack threads.
Between the lines: Institutional investor Lise Buyer said in many ways this year flips the usual script.
- "Usually the climate talks are the downers," said Buyer, a former Wall Street analyst and longtime TED attendee. "This time, the real depressing talks are happening outside the theater."
- Many attendees said the talks are a welcome distraction from the present chaos, especially since there is little to be done.
- "Honestly, the only thing you can do is wait and see," Kashani said. His company already assembles its robots in the U.S. and moved as much of its supply chain as it could out of China. But he knows that rising global tariffs will bite. "This is still gonna impact," he said.
