The annual consumer technology trade show CES 2025 officially begins on January 7th and is guaranteed to bring a variety of interesting, attention-grabbing and downright strange new products to the famous Las Vegas Strip.

There are a number of big-name announcements at every CES, be it from chip manufacturers, automotive companies or small startups. And this year will be no different. Of course, like the last two years, the biggest stories will undoubtedly focus on artificial intelligence.

However, the show offers more than just AI. Newer and better televisions, unique appliances and laptops as far as the eye can see – as well as a whole lot of vaporware – are sure to flood the floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) during the week-long tech extravaganza. Here’s what to expect from this year’s event.

You’ve probably heard the terms AI agents or agent AI in the last few months. If not, think of it as AI software that can do multiple tasks for you. For example, imagine being able to retrieve information from your email and paste it into a spreadsheet without having to lift a finger.

Agents have taken over the AI ​​conversation in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, meaning they’ll likely be everywhere at CES 2025. In fact, agents had already exerted some influence during last year’s CES.

The AI ​​gadget Rabbit R1, which went viral at CES 2024, is designed to perform actions on your behalf, including navigating websites and user interfaces. And there’s no doubt that we’ll see plenty of companies touting their own similar capabilities at this year’s show.

If past CES shows are any indication, we’ll likely hear about AI agents for everything from televisions to washing machines. Technology loves a good trend, and with no end to the AI ​​hype in sight, this one looks too good to pass up.

It wouldn’t be CES without some good chip stories. AMD (AMD), Intel (INTC), Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM) will all be in attendance and each is expected to provide updates on their own chip plans for the coming year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will moderate the company’s keynote on January 6, where the company is expected to unveil its latest generation of consumer graphics cards. AMD will also be holding its own conference at the event with its own graphics chips.

Every chip maker in the PC space is betting heavily on AI PC gaming to attract consumers and increase overall sales. And you can expect even more of that at CES. But whether AI PCs, computers designed to natively run AI applications, will be enough to get consumers to pull out their credit cards is still an open question.

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In just a few days, we’ll learn more about companies’ strategies and what makes their respective AI PCs better than their competitors.

It’s hard to imagine CES without some wild new car technology, but years ago it would have been unthinkable to see a car roll into the LVCC. Now there is a whole wing dedicated to everything automotive and beyond.

Automakers from BMW and Toyota (TM) to Honda (HMC) will showcase their latest technologies, and companies across the technology spectrum will almost certainly unveil new ways of interacting with our four-wheeled fortresses. The main focus is on how the technology will enable advanced driver assistance functions in the coming years. And you can bet that at least one company will mention fully self-driving cars, although it will be years before it becomes a reality, if at all.

Cars aren’t the only modes of transportation that will appear at CES. Everything from tractors and two-story dump trucks to private boats and flying taxis have graced the halls of LVCC, and if I were to bet, I’d say we’ll be seeing more at CES 2025 too.

Big Tech is preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s promised tariffs, and the exact impact they will have on everything from businesses to consumer electronics is sure to be top of mind. Trump has announced he will impose tariffs on goods from China; expressed his opposition to the CHIPS Act, which is intended to reinstate chip manufacturing; and said the additional costs for companies would force them to relocate their operations to the United States.

Still, there is no guarantee that Trump will implement the tariffs as he said he would or when he will put them into effect. Regardless, the fact that the risk exists is enough to embarrass Silicon Valley and Wall Street investors.

However, it’s not just about tariffs. Tech companies across the spectrum are preparing for Trump to take the Oval Office for a second time. Executives from several of the “Magnificent Seven” companies, including Meta (META)’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, are flattering the president-elect in an attempt to repair their frayed relationships.

All of this is sure to make for an interesting dynamic at CES and an even more interesting year for tech as a whole.

Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

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