CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, is the world’s largest tech show, where companies launch new gadgets and announce new developments, and is held every January. This year it attracted more than 148,000 participants and more than 4,100 exhibitors. It extends through the Las Vegas Convention Center, the city’s largest exhibition space, and extends to neighboring hotels.
China has always had a presence at CES, but this year it appeared in a big way. Chinese exhibitors represent nearly a quarter of all companies at the show, and in pockets such as artificial intelligence hardware and robotics, China’s presence seemed particularly dominant. On the floor, I saw a large number of Chinese industry attendees walking around, as well as a notable number of Chinese venture capital firms. Many experienced CES attendees have told me that this is the first post-Covid CES where China was present in a way you couldn’t miss it. Last year may have been trending that way too, but many Chinese attendees reportedly faced visa rejections. Now artificial intelligence is the global excuse and reason for making the trip.
As expected, AI was the biggest topic this year, seen on every booth wall. It’s the biggest thing everyone is talking about and a very confusing marketing gimmick. “We added AI” is imposed on everything from the sensible (computers, phones, televisions, security systems) to the dysfunctional (slippers, hair dryers, bed frames).
Consumer AI tools still seem early and are of very variable quality. The most popular categories are educational devices and emotional support toys – which, As I wrote about recentlyAll this anger in China. A few memorable things: Luka AI makes a robotic panda that walks around and watches your child. Fuzozo, a fluffy, keychain-sized AI robot, is essentially a digital pet in physical form. It comes with a built-in personality and reacts to how you treat it. The companies selling these products just hope you don’t think too much about the privacy implications.
Ian Goh, an investor at 01.VC, told me that China’s manufacturing advantage gives it a unique advantage in AI consumer electronics, because many Western companies feel they simply cannot fight and win in the hardware space.
Another area where Chinese companies appear to be at the head of the pack is home electronics. The products they make have become impressively sophisticated. Home robots, 360 cameras, security systems, drones, lawn mowers, pool heat pumps… Did you know that two Chinese brands essentially dominate the US home cleaning robot market and are eating Dyson and Shark’s lunch? Did you know that almost all of the suburban yard technology you can buy in the West comes from Shenzhen, even though this backyard-obsessed lifestyle barely exists in China? These things are so elegant that you won’t make them china unless you look for them. The old “cheap and repetitive” stereotype doesn’t explain what I saw. I walked away from CES feeling like I needed a major appliance upgrade.
Of course, hardware is a safe and mature market. On the more experimental front, humanoid robots have been a giant draw for crowds, and Chinese companies have put on quite a show. Each robot appeared to be dancing, in styles ranging from Michael Jackson to K-pop to lion dancing, and some were even doing backflips. Hangzhou-based company Unitree has even set up a boxing ring where people can “challenge” its robots. The robot fighters were about half the size of an adult human, and matches often ended in a robot knockout, but that’s not really the point. What Unitree was actually bragging about was the robots’ stability and balance: They were pushed and tumbled across the ring and remained upright, recovering mid-movement. Beyond displays of dynamic moves like these, there were also impressive displays of ingenuity: robots could be seen folding paper pins, doing laundry, playing the piano, and even making latte art.
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However, most of these robots, even the good ones, are one-trick ponies. They are optimized for a specific task on the show floor. I tried to make one fold of the shirt after flipping the garment over, and it quickly got messy.
