CES 2024 news in review: AI, spatial computing, robots and more

The following is a roundup of my coverage of the CES 2024 technology trade show in Las Vegas.

Arm elbows into new arenas as chip designer takes on AI, auto, cloud, other markets. (Jan. 26, 2024)

Powerfoyle becoming “Intel Inside” for light-powered gadgets. (Jan. 19, 2024)

Robot barista looks to fill labor shortage. Say hello to Adam. (Jan. 19, 2024)

Apple isn’t the only player in spatial computing. Rivals populated CES 2024. (Jan. 17, 2024)

Garmin targeting niche markets in smartwatches for women, kids. (Jan. 12, 2024)

Dolby cranks up volume of licensing deals in autos, TVs, PCs. (Jan. 12, 2024)

Qualcomm in catbird seat for edge AI shift, CEO says. (Jan. 11, 2024)

Smart TV platform battle rages at CES 2024. Amazon, Roku make waves. (Jan. 11, 2024)

Automotive chipmakers squeezed by “accordion effect.” (Jan. 10, 2024)

L’Oreal adds glamour to CES 2024 with beauty tech gadgets. (Jan. 9, 2024)

Dell, HP join Intel push for AI PCs. Microsoft Copilot called “marquee” feature. (Jan. 9, 2024)

Nvidia steps up generative AI game with new chips. (Jan. 8, 2024)

AMD rounds out AI PC chip lineup with new desktop processors. (Jan. 8, 2024)

Consumers set to upgrade pandemic-era tech purchases. (Jan. 8, 2024)

“AI is the story of the show”: What to expect from CES 2024. (Jan. 6, 2024)

Photos: CES 2024 outside the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (Patrick Seitz); LG Electronics WebOS tunnel at CES 2024 (LG)

Celebrities at CES 2024: Robert Downey Jr., Eva Longoria, Will.i.am and more

Celebrities turned up at CES 2024 on the show floor, at conference events and for after-hours concerts.
Actor Robert Downey Jr. spoke at a conference panel at the C Space Studio.
Actress and model Eva Longoria, a L’Oreal brand ambassador, appeared at the L’Oreal keynote presentation.
Rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Will.i.am came out to promote his sound system for Mercedes-Benz.
Media personality Paris Hilton also spoke at CES 2024.
South Korean rapper G-Dragon toured the CES exhibit floor and visited mostly Korean companies, including LG, Samsung and SK Group.
Businesswoman and media personality Martha Stewart took to the kitchen stage at Samsung’s CES booth to craft her “Martha-tini” and smashed potatoes using the company’s SmartThings technology.
Top-name music acts were featured at corporate evening events at CES 2024.
Green Day rocked the Virgin Theater for Harman, a unit of Samsung.
Wu-Tang Clan performed at Voltaire at the Venetian for Yahoo. (See article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.)
Nelly rapped for a club party at the Allegiant Stadium for TCL.
Ludacris rapped at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria for Amazon Ads.
Finally, Weezer performed a concert for iHeartMedia and MediaLink.

Photos: Eva Longoria (top) and Will.i.am. (CES)

The devil works hard, but the RDJBrazil's team works harder!

📸 Adicionamos +10 fotos em HQ de Robert Downey Jr. no #CES2024, renomada feira tecnológica que teve sua noite de abertura ontem (9), em Las Vegas.

— Robert Downey Jr. BR (@RDJBrazil) January 10, 2024

Mercedes-Benz, CES 2024’te https://t.co/s7HfcNpq0C ortaklığıyla da dikkat çektihttps://t.co/9qgu4WAFa7 pic.twitter.com/0EwXb0Cbos

— LOG (@logdergisi) January 16, 2024

The @MercedesBenz Sound Drive feature is hard to conceptualize but I can confirm, once experienced, you understand it and want it. Thanks @iamwill for the ride 🔥 #CES2024 https://t.co/AZY9rtZSxY pic.twitter.com/SVla62vaTi

— WHAT'S INSIDE? (@whatsinside) January 10, 2024

Paris Hilton at “The Transformation Experience” panel at 2024 International CES#ParisHilton @ParisHilton pic.twitter.com/xmHqZftPqd

— Celebs Style Daily (@cdhq2) January 19, 2024

I’m about to take a selfie with Paris and she says, “I invented the selfie, let me take it.” @ParisHilton #CES2024 pic.twitter.com/FdbDshpiT5

— Shelly Palmer (@shellypalmer) January 11, 2024

[NEWS]

Multiple new articles are reporting on G-DRAGONs visit to CES and the Samsung and LG booths.

ALL TOGETHER WITH G-DRAGON#GDRAGONxCES2024 #CES2024 @IBGDRGN pic.twitter.com/q9LKsByO4m

— G-DRAGON INTERNATIONAL (@gdragonintl) January 9, 2024

"Kpop singers, have limited roles beyond becoming ads models or attracting investments when collab with companies. #GDRAGON is showcasing a different side at #CES2024, a broader involvement or a unique contribution beyond the usual roles assoc with celebs in business collabs."✔️ pic.twitter.com/mCi20fEws7

— G-Dragon is the manual (@WhiteTamar1) January 11, 2024

K-pop star G-Dragon visits exhibition booths at CES 2024https://t.co/6Q8klFy6wU

— The Korea Times (@koreatimescokr) January 10, 2024

It’s #CES2024 👍 It’s @MarthaStewart 👌 It’s our CES special guest Martha Stewart! 🫶 Tune in now to watch her livestream and share how she uses SmartThings and AI to make magic in the kitchen and beyond! https://t.co/c5R3T7i3dT

— Samsung US (@SamsungUS) January 10, 2024

Martha Stewart at ces! Samsung booth! pic.twitter.com/n4XIMwUn7S

— Ants_Amazing (@Ants_Amazing_) January 9, 2024

Huge shout out to @ChrisHarihar and the @Yahoo team. @WuTangClan is forever.

Great event…. 👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/DgWn2dsAzm

— AdTechGod 🍪 (@AdtechGod) January 11, 2024

The boys who sing Bev-er-ly Hills are in Sin City to kick off #CES and us Gen Xers are kinda loving it. #Weezer pic.twitter.com/eJnB6zIrdt

— Cynthia Littleton (@Variety_Cynthia) January 10, 2024

Thank you #CES2024 for bringing us @Weezer pic.twitter.com/EHVK3rN85U

— Ximena Hartsock (@ximenahartsock) January 10, 2024

Great concert by Green Day on Wednesday night at the Virgin Theater in Las Vegas, sponsored by JBL, a premium audio brand owned by Samsung's Harman. #CES2024 pic.twitter.com/zdFnuNzaT5

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) January 12, 2024

Rapper Nelly rocking the mic at #CES2024 TCL party at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/Ui7cEs12ep

— Patrick Seitz (@IBD_PSeitz) January 10, 2024

CES 2024: The most talked-out companies and products at the massive tech show

CES 2024 unleashed a tsunami of exciting new products and technologies across a diverse range of industries and markets. For a general interest journalist, such as me, it was pretty overwhelming.
This week, the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData provided a list of the most-mentioned companies and products showcased at the consumer electronics show, which ran Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas. GlobalData is a leading data and analytics company.
Samsung ranked first on social media (both the X platform and Reddit) during CES 2024, based on the volume of discussions about its products at the show. Those products included its S95D OLED TV, folding-screen smartphones and transparent micro-LED TV displays.
Other top-mentioned companies at CES 2024 included Rabbit, Nvidia, LG, Sony, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Honda Motor and Walmart.
Artificial intelligence device startup Rabbit was the biggest surprise. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company introduced a pocket-sized consumer AI gadget at CES 2024.
The Rabbit R1 is a walkie-talkie-like device with a built-in camera. It offers smartphone-free solutions to simplify tasks like booking a flight, getting an Uber or ordering a meal.
GlobalData said its analysis is based on online discussions from Jan. 7 through Jan. 15.

Photo: Word cloud showing the most talked-about subjects at CES 2024. (GlobalData)

CES 2024 buzzword of the show: AI

For the last 15 years after the CES tech trade show, I’ve chosen the buzzword of the show. This year, for the first time, the buzzword was a repeat.
The overwhelming choice for the buzzword of CES 2024 was AI, or artificial intelligence. Excitement this year was driven by generative artificial intelligence and edge AI devices.
AI was also the buzzword of the CES 2018 show. Back then, AI was in vogue because of the rise of autonomous vehicles, smart devices, and voice-response personal assistants.
At this year’s show, consumer electronics firms, PC makers, semiconductor companies and others touted AI features of their new products.
CES 2024 was the coming-out party for AI PCs, with new chips for running AI applications locally instead of in the internet cloud.
Plus, the most talked-about gadget at the show was the Rabbit R1 pocket AI device from Santa Monica, Calif.-based startup Rabbit. It’s a small device that works with voice commands and interacts with your smartphone to simplify tasks.
LG Electronics tried to make artificial intelligence seem less scary by calling their approach to AI “affectionate intelligence.”
Runners up for buzzword of CES 2024 included “spatial computing” and “software-defined vehicle.”

CES buzzwords through the years:

2010: Green
2011: Smart
2012: Ultra
2013: Super
2014: Curved
2015: Wearable
2016: HDR (high dynamic range)
2017: Voice
2018: AI (artificial intelligence)
2019: 5G
2020: Streaming
2021: Pandemic
2022: Metaverse
2023: Augmented reality
2024: AI

Photos: Samsung CEO JH Han speaking at CES 2024 press conference (Consumer Technology Association; LG Electronics press conference at CES 2024 (Patrick Seitz); and Rabbit R1 AI Assistant (Rabbit).

Top 20 celebrities and public figures predicted to die in 2024

With the death of game show host Bob Barker last year, former President Jimmy Carter moves up a notch in the dead pool rankings at Stiffs.com to become the public figure most likely to die in 2024.
Carter has been in the top five of the Stiffs.com dead pool competition for the last five years. Will this be the year the grim reaper finally catches up with him?
Of the top 20 public figures marked for death in 2023 by Stiffs.com, seven bought the farm. They included Barker, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, singer Tony Bennett, cartoonist Al Jaffee, sitcom writer and producer Norman Lear, singer and actor Harry Belafonte and former first lady Rosalyn Carter.
In last year’s Stiffs.com competition, two people correctly picked actor Matthew Perry, 54, to die in 2023. Also, two people correctly forecast the death of singer Sinead O’Connor, 56.
What follows are the top 20 public figures (with their ages) predicted to die in 2024, according to Stiffs.com.

1. Jimmy Carter, 99, former U.S. president
2. Dick Van Dyke, 98, actor
3. Mel Brooks, 97, comedian, writer, actor, director
4. Glynis Johns, 100, British actress
5. Eva Marie Saint, 99, actress
6. Shannen Doherty, 52, actress
7. Bob Newhart, 94, actor and comedian
8. Alan Greenspan, 97, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve
9. Gene Shalit, 97, film critic for NBC’s “The Today Show”
10. June Lockhart, 98, actress
11. David Attenborough, 97, broadcaster and naturalist
12. Ethel Kennedy, 95, widow of U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy
13. Joanne Woodward, 93, actress
14. Marv Levy, 98, pro football coach
15. Buzz Aldrin, 93, U.S. astronaut
16. Clint Eastwood, 93, actor and director
17. Gene Hackman, 93, actor
18. Yoko Ono, 90, Japanese multimedia artist and peace activist
19. Willie Nelson, 90, country music singer and songwriter
20. Doc Severinsen, 96, jazz trumpeter and band leader

Here are some notable younger public figures predicted to die this year by multiple Stiffs.com dead-pool players:

25. Celine Dion, 55, singer
26. Val Kilmer, 64, actor
63. Michael J. Fox, 62, actor
96. Toby Keith, 62, country music singer and songwriter
116. Britney Spears, 42, singer
128. Michael Schumacher, 54, Formula One racecar driver
137. William “The Refrigerator” Perry, 61, former football player
141. Charlie Sheen, 58, actor
149. Artie Lange, 56, comedian
150. Bam Margera, 44, skateboarder, “Jackass” stuntman
164. Madonna, 65, singer
167. Sir Mix-a-Lot, 60, rapper
174. Amanda Bynes, 37, actress

Photo: Britney Spears dancing with knives in social media video (TMZ)