“There’s an old saying, ‘Things move at the speed of trust,’” Brian Chesky, co-founder and chief executive of Airbnb, said on Wednesday at The New York Times DealBook conference. “Well, how could you possibly trust something on a platform if you don’t even know if it’s true?” If there is one singular issue that defines the intersection of business and policy at this moment, it is a deepening trust deficit. That appeared to be the conclusion of some of the most consequential leaders who came together for this year’s conference, “Playing for the Long Term.” The words “trust” and “responsibility” were peppered throughout more than a dozen conversations as well as what needs to change to regain that trust.

Bill Gates, the billionaire philanthropist, talked about the distrust between the United States and China, and his worries that such mistrust is missing a bigger point.

“If you’re so paranoid,” he said, “you know, what about the code that’s being written by somebody whose grandmother was Chinese, or great-grandmother was Chinese? My God, just think about it. I mean, is there any piece of software in the world that you’re willing to trust?”