Greetings from the neon-drenched wonderland of CES 2025! I’m about to touch down for my 20th CES in 25 years—a milestone that feels equal parts “veteran techie” and “wow, you’ve seen a lot of robot vacuum and brain-controlled robot demos.” This year’s CES promises to blend jaw-dropping tech and “how did they even think of this?” innovation. As I prep to navigate the labyrinthine halls of the convention center, here are five things I’m genuinely excited about.
AI PCs: The Brains Behind the Screens
Forget the days of PCs just crunching numbers and churning out PowerPoints. The future is here, and AI PCs are leading the charge. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite platform, a CES 2025 Innovation Awards Honoree, is set to revolutionize the industry. This processor will be the secret sauce behind over 50 new laptops, promising two times faster performance and power efficiency. And MediaTek, the leader in mobile SoC, is hot on their tails with their even more powerful Dimensity 9400 platform – the future will be super exciting! Even NVIDIA is rumored to bring their AI chip game to PCs, and Intel’s Lunar Lake processors are mainstreaming neural processing units (NPUs).
Why does this excite me? As someone who’s spent countless hours multitasking on my computer (with varying degrees of success), smarter PCs mean better productivity – or at least fewer frozen tabs when I’ve got 25 open. Maybe I should have waited to build my latest gaming desktop PC powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU and NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 Super GPU – but I needed to feed the beast in my time off after leaving Micron!
My custom-built PC Desktop
Cars That Actually Understand You
NVIDIA’s collaboration with Cerence AI is set to transform the automotive industry. Their SoCs do more than assist – they’ll feel like your co-pilot. Imagine having your car’s AI casually remind you to grab milk when you pass the grocery store (without sounding bossy). Not to be outdone, Qualcomm and MediaTek are bringing next-gen voice assistants to cars, ensuring that your autonomous ride will be both tech-savvy and conversational.
Are we closer to Knight Rider than ever? Maybe. But I’ll settle for my Tesla Model X, understanding my “turn down the AC” command without thinking I want directions to AC/DC tribute concerts.
Gaming Goes Galactic: NVIDIA’s GeForce LAN 50 Event at CES 2025
NVIDIA isn’t just bringing tech to CES; they’re hosting a gamer’s paradise in the form of the GeForce LAN 50. Scheduled from January 4-6, it’s a perfect blend of tech demo and epic hangout for gamers. With the RTX 50-series GPUs launching and NVIDIA’s AI chips for PCs creating immersive gaming experiences, I can’t wait for the ‘shut up and take my money’ moments that are sure to come. My inner gamer is thrilled, but my wallet? Less so.
Data Center AI – Because the Cloud is Cooler Than Ever
Marvell, AMD, and NVIDIA are competing in the AI hardware arena, bringing next-gen solutions to the heart of cloud computing. Marvell’s generative AI for data centers is taking things up a notch, while AMD’s Instinct MI325X GPU promises to outpace even NVIDIA’s offerings for AI workloads.
For an AI geek like me, the real excitement isn’t just speed – it’s the possibilities these innovations unlock for businesses and consumers alike.
CES 2025 Parties, Panels, and… Jensen Huang’s Keynote
Let’s face it – CES isn’t just about tech but the spectacle. Jensen Huang’s keynote (January 6, 6:30 PM, Michelob Ultra Arena) is always a must-watch, as NVIDIA’s CEO knows how to make tech feel futuristic and fun. Add to that the promise of networking events, private demos, and customer receptions from the likes of Qualcomm, ARM, AMD, and Intel, and my calendar is already bursting at the seams.
Outro:
Today is just Day 1, and I’m already buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming events. Stay tuned for more updates, hot takes, and (hopefully) some laugh-out-loud moments as CES 2025 unfolds. Here’s to tech innovation, lousy coffee, fist-bumping industry friends, and comfortable walking shoes – the true essentials for surviving CES.
Here are some links to key industry players’ CES landing pages. Stay tuned!
NVIDIA: NVIDIA at CES 2025
AMD: AMD at CES 2025
Intel: Intel at CES 2025
Qualcomm: Qualcomm at CES 2025
ARM: Arm at CES 2025
Marvell: Marvell at CES 2025
About the author
Rahul Sandil is the former Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Micron, where he led brand management, creative studios, business and technology marketing, marketing technology, and digital marketing. With over 30 years of experience in marketing and business development, Rahul has driven growth and innovation for start-ups and established brands in the entertainment, digital media, and technology sectors.
Rahul is passionate about creating customer-centric experiences that connect communities with technology. He believes in the power of storytelling, creativity, and data to drive business outcomes and social impact. He is also an avid geek and usually the first to adopt new consumer tech products. To read more about Rahul’s thoughts on AI, Marketing, and Leadership, check out his blog, connect with him on LinkedIn, subscribe to his newsletter, or follow him on Medium.
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