Elon Musk speaks at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026. Photo: VCG

At the start of Elon Musk's session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, he joked about US-proposed "Board of Peace" for Gaza, according to AP. "Is that P-I-E-C-E? A little piece of Greenland, a little piece of Venezuela," Musk said, drawing laughter from attendees. 

Appearing on stage at the WEF in Davos to be interviewed by BlackRock's Laurence Fink, the tech billionaire seized on the fledgling board's name, US news site Mediaite said. 

The joke came just hours after US President Donald Trump formally launched his "Board of Peace" on the sidelines of the summit, signing the charter and positioning it as a cornerstone of his post-conflict vision for Gaza and broader global diplomacy, the US media report said. 

Trump was joined by a small number of foreign leaders Thursday as he signed the charter of his Board of Peace, a new body he has billed as part of the solution to a series of global conflict, NBC News reported. 

Major Western allies chose to skip the ceremony on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, with some voicing concerns about the possibility that the body, which Trump plans to chair personally, could replace the UN, per NBC News. 

Musk's joke - riffing on the similarity between "peace" and "piece" in the context of Trump's newly announced Board of Peace and his controversial push around Greenland and Venezuela - underscored broader unease among business and political leaders about the US' shifting approach to alliances and geopolitical norms, according to Newsweek.

Musk's joke also draws discussions among the netizens on social media. 

"That joke lands because it exposes the gap. everyone talks about 'peace,' but the real conversation is power, territory, and leverage. Davos wrapped in humor, not decisions," netizen @zywiremedia1 said on the X platform. 

"Davos laughed because the joke landed. 'Board of Peace' sounding a lot like 'Board of Pieces.' Greenland. Venezuela. What's next? Words matter. Power matters more," another netizen @jeetensingh said in a X post. 

"Calling it a peace conference perfectly captures the irony of modern geopolitics," a netizen @elibrooks0 said.