CES 2025 formally kicks off in Las Vegas on the morning of Tuesday, January 7 and runs via the top of the day on January 10. The “official” dates are particular to when the ground of the Las Vegas Convention Center is open to attendees, and finally belie the present’s true period. A pair of press days kick off Sunday with a number of smaller occasions main as much as a scrum of press conferences on January 6.
Press conferences
Image Credits:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg (opens in a brand new window) / Getty Images
We’ll be watching the next with a detailed eye listed below are TechSwitch:
AMD (Monday at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET): AMD has its work lower out for it at CES 2025. Competitor Nvidia has been sucking the oxygen out of each room it graces, because the chipmaker stays on the forefront of the AI growth. So, how will AMD compete with Nvidia’s reported RTX 5000 announcement? The firm ought to exhibit its personal next-gen GPU. As a part of an ongoing rebrand, the RDNA 4 playing cards might arrive as both the RX 8000 or RX 9000 sequence.
Toyota (Monday at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m ET): We count on Chairman Akio Toyoda to go all in on Woven City, the carmarker’s “living laboratory.” Our automotive editor Kirsten Korosec provides: “Details are slim about exactly what will be revealed. TechSwitch, which was at the initial announcement in 2020, will be watching to see how startups will be incorporated into Woven City and whether Toyota followed through on its plans to build a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.”
Samsung (Monday at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET): Samsung’s CES presser is at all times an odd duck. The Korean electronics big usually retains its powder dry on the subject of shopper electronics. After all, it’s anticipated to announce its newest flagship handset — the Galaxy S25 — towards the top of January. CES 2025 goes to proceed the corporate’s custom of TVs and home equipment. There are additionally odds and ends like shopper robots that can almost definitely by no means see the sunshine of day. Samsung has adopted the tagline “AI for All: Everyday, Everywhere” for the presentation.
Nvidia (Monday at 6:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. ET): Nvidia will little doubt have the most important CES 2025. After all, the corporate has just about the most important every little thing these days. The chip big is sporting a $3.4+ trillion market cap, due largely to its foundational place within the ongoing AI growth. Companies like OpenAI and Meta have bought Nvidia processors by the boatload, and that’s unlikely to alter within the new yr. Founder and CEO Jensen Huang will assist kick off CES 2025 “with his trademark leather jacket and an unwavering vision,” per Nvidia.
Notable keynotes from the next day embody Twitter/X CEO Linda Yaccarino at 1:30 p.m. PT and Delta CEO Ed Bastian at 5 p.m. PT. The latter, notably, will happen at jam band scorching spot the Sphere. Both can be out there to stream on the official CES YouTube web page.
Trends
Image Credits:Brian Heater
The present’s scorching matter will nearly actually be the one factor anybody in tech appears to speak about as of late: AI. That’s nothing new for CES, in fact. The class has been on the forefront for years now, with 2024’s present delivering a few of the earliest generative-AI-powered shopper gadgets.
The Rabbit R1 was, maybe, probably the most notable from final yr’s present. The handheld generated a whole lot of buzz on the occasion, although as with different AI gadgets like Humane’s AI Pin, the product did not dwell as much as any expectations.
The topic gained’t be restricted to this way of product, nonetheless. This yr, any product that doesn’t point out AI in some kind can be in a small minority. As talked about above, Nvidia and AMD can be going head-to-head on the chip entrance. Nvidia can be a selected focus, because the chipmaker units the stage tempo for AI in 2025, together with the discharge of the a lot anticipated GeForce RTX 50 GPU. The firm can even contact on different key classes, together with robotics and transportation.
AI will grace every little thing from automobiles to fridges this yr. Some functions will show genuinely helpful, however many — if not most — can be an answer in the hunt for an issue. This is at all times an necessary factor to remember at an occasion like CES. It’s an enormous present — final yr’s occasion hosted 4,300 corporations and practically 140,000 attendees. There’s a whole lot of noise, and loads of AI “applications” exist in try to rise above it.
Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec
Over the previous decade, CES has remodeled into one of many yr’s high automotive reveals. This has primarily been pushed by automotive producers’ bids to develop into bleeding-edge pioneers: Where higher to showcase that than the yr’s largest shopper tech present? The 2021 addition of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall has facilitated that enlargement.
Questions stay about whether or not CES can keep its standing as a significant automobile present. Anecdotally, fewer giant names look like taking part in a significant method, together with U.S. producers like Ford. This is probably going due, partly, to Detroit’s North American International Auto Show returning after a yr off. That occasion is about to kick off January 10, overlapping with CES.
That’s to not say that there gained’t be huge headlines out of Vegas subsequent week. In addition to Toyota’s participation, Sony’s press convention ought to as soon as once more characteristic Afeela, the corporate’s collaboration with Honda. Firms like Hyundai — which now owns Boston Dynamics — will doubtless showcase its concentrate on humanoid and different robotics.
Image Credits:Hyundai
Robotics have more and more develop into a spotlight level for CES lately. I anticipate most transportation corporations discussing the subject, from manufacturing to eVTOLs. The automobile trade has been the tip of the automated manufacturing spear for years, a reality accelerated by varied employment and provide chain crises for the reason that pandemic. Meanwhile, eVTOLs scored a significant FAA win late final yr.
CES continues to be a significant launching pad for pc displays. In reality, Samsung, ASUS, and MSI all introduced the addition of “the world’s first” 27-inch 4K OLED displays with 240Hz refresh charges. Smart home equipment at all times get a whole lot of love on the present as properly. LG has already revealed a bunch of stories on that entrance. Samsung ought to comply with go well with at its press conferences on Monday.
After an prolonged lull, I anticipate a brand new wave of sensible dwelling gadgets. Between interoperability via the Matter customary, the explosion of generative AI platforms, and a second wind for sensible assistants from Google, Amazon, and Apple, corporations can be showcasing how these gadgets would possibly excel the place their predecessors failed.
Image Credits:Cory Green/Yahoo
After its newest hype cycle, prolonged actuality nonetheless has loads to show. The Vision Pro hasn’t taken off as Apple had hoped, and rivals are struggling to compete with Meta’s skill to subsidize the price of the Quest. Big names within the area like HTC and Magic Leap have largely pivoted to enterprise functions. Chipmakers like Qualcomm, nonetheless, are nonetheless very a lot centered on making a splash.