2023 was a year that reshaped almost everything. In seven minutes, here's what you need to know — and why the stories of this year will be the backdrop for the rest of the decade.

Let's start with technology. Generative AI really took off, with ChatGPT leading the way and triggering a race among tech giants. Microsoft, Google, Meta — every major tech company pivoted overnight. Suddenly, AI wasn't a future problem. It was the present. Writers, artists, programmers, teachers — everyone started asking the same question: what happens to my job?

In response, several countries rolled out new AI regulations — the first serious attempts to govern a technology that had already escaped the lab. The European Union passed the AI Act. The United States issued an executive order. China introduced its own framework. None of these are final answers, but they set the tone for the regulatory landscape to come.

On the geopolitical side, conflict broke out in several regions, reshaping the global landscape. The war in Ukraine continued into its second year. A new war erupted in the Middle East, sending shockwaves through diplomacy and energy markets. Supply chains stretched, alliances shifted, and the post-Cold-War order kept fracturing.

Financially, in the wake of a brief banking crisis earlier in the year, central banks moved quickly to contain the damage. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March. Credit Suisse was absorbed by UBS days later. The panic didn't spread the way some feared — but the aftershocks reshaped how regulators think about risk. Inflation eased in some economies, but remained sticky in others. Interest rates climbed. Mortgages got painful. And for many families, 2023 felt like a year of constant financial squeeze.

New evidence about a series of corporate scandals came to light throughout the year — from crypto collapses to tech founders ousted from their own companies. Trust in institutions took another hit. Taken together, these decisions set the stage for a very different 2024. What happens next — and how we adapt to it — will define the decade. Here's to closing out 2023, and starting 2024 with clear eyes.