CES 2024 is shaping up as a big step forward in the show’s post-pandemic recovery. According to Kinsey Fabrizio, CTA’s SVP for CES & Membership, speaking at CTA’s annual CES press preview, this year’s Las Vegas confab (January 9-12) has already surpassed 3,500 exhibitors, has reached 2.4 million square feet of exhibit space, and show organizers expect more than 130,000 attendees.
While encouraging, these metrics still lag slightly behind the last pre-pandemic CES in 2020, which featured 4,400 exhibitors across 2.9 million square feet, and 171,000 attendees.
This year’s CES has been dubbed “All Together. All On.” with a focus on three overarching themes: access to technology, part of CTA’s partnership with the UN’s Human Security for All campaign, the growth and adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and CTA’s 100th anniversary.
While 2024 is an election year, CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro doesn’t view CES or technology as a partisan issue. “We divide the world into two types, not Republican and Democrat or not of those who are against us and those who are for us, but those that have been to CES and those that have not. Those who have been to CES see the world totally differently. They see the promise of innovation…not just from the biggest companies, not even from smaller companies, but also from people and startups with an idea.”
Fabrizio bragged the show will host 800 new exhibitors, “and we’re adding more every single day.” West Hall is “at capacity,” according to John Kelley, CTA VP and CES Show Director, and will be filled with nearly 300 auto and mobility companies including Hyundai and Kia for the first time. C Space is expanding into the Cosmo Hotel, and Shark Tank’s open casting call returns to CES as well with Mark Cuban speaking during the show’s digital health program.
Eureka Park at the Venetian will house 1,000 startups alongside more than 20 country pavilions. Other CES 2024 “hot” categories continue to be digital health, including wearable tech, health tracking, telehealth tools, and food tech; this year’s CES Unveiled press event will feature a new tasting area for “alternative” foods.
Shapiro also announced two new keynoters, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger, and a C-Suite keynote featuring Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel and MediaLink chair and CEO Michael Kassan. There also will be nearly 1,000 speakers across 250 conference sessions, including 11 policy panels that will focus on “setting the guardrails for the innovation industry to balance the need for innovation,” Shapiro notes, recognizing “that government has a legitimate interest in making sure things are done in a way that’s beneficial to their country and their needs.”
On the show floor itself, show organizers expect AI to be a pervasive force at the CES 2024.
“Generative AI has taken the world by storm and every company is thinking about how to use it,” Shapiro asserts. “Many companies are going to be talking about, introducing, and showing products which take advantage of that. Generative AI is going to be a big, big shift forward for humanity.”
To help attendees and exhibitors plan for the show, the CES 2024 app is now available.
