CES 2025: X CEO Linda Yaccarino touts ‘holy grail’ feature as AI-powered robots, gadgets dominate show

LAS VEGAS – X CEO Linda Yaccarino took center stage at Tuesday’s opening day of CES 2025 – where crowds of tech geeks gathered to see the latest in AI robots, software, drones and more .

Yaccarino boasted that the Elon Musk-owned social media platform was heading into 2025 at “tremendous speed” during her keynote address at the multi-day event, hosted by the Consumer Technology Association.

In her meeting with lead host Catherine Herridge — the award-winning investigative reporter fired by CBS News last year — Yaccarino promoted a “Holy Grail” advertising-focused feature called “Trend Genius.”

The software automatically boosts ad campaigns on X when they’re tied to a trending topic — such as an LVMH partnership with actress Zendaya that grew during the Golden Globes.

“It’s something that only X can do,” said Yaccarino, who said X has “shown and shipped more than 250 product innovations” since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.

The feature was tested in beta over the past several months, she added.

Yaccarino was interviewed just hours after rival Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg announced his company would abandon widely criticized fact-checking in favor of an X-style “community notes” feature.

“Mark, Meta’ welcome to the party,” Yacarino said.

She was also asked about Musk’s new role alongside Vivek Ramaswamy as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and whether it would affect X.

“I don’t think there are two better people than Elon and Vivek to do this,” Yaccarino said. “As Americans, we should all be rooting for Doge’s overwhelming success. I would expect other countries to follow.â€

Elsewhere at the world’s largest trade show, tech policy experts squared off in a heated debate over whether antitrust enforcement being played out in Washington DC is helping or hurting innovation.

Luther Lowe, a vocal critic of Google and head of public policy at startup-focused Y Combinator, warned that Big Tech firms like the search giant and Apple are “trying to choke off the oxygen supply” by taking actions that benefit themselves in back of smaller competitors.

“If there’s strong enforcement against that kind of behavior when it’s outside the bounds of the Sherman Act, Big Tech can coexist with Little Tech,” Lowe said.

Experts on both sides of the debate largely agreed that President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of antitrust bulldogs like Gail Slater to serve as Justice Department chief and Andrew Ferguson as FTC chairman signaled that he would continue a tough approach to competition policy. .

“They’re going to be driven by a sincere pro-innovation agenda,” said Tyler Grimm, principal at Miller Strategies and former counsel on the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee.

The exhibit floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center featured thousands of exhibits, including a large exhibit for Segway, which featured a robotic lawnmower.

Tech giant Siemens’ booth included details about its collaboration with aircraft startup JetZero, which is using the company’s design software to fine-tune a futuristic wide-body passenger plane with overhead engines and individual bag storage. A Siemens representative said the firms aimed to have a flying plane by 2030.

A large crowd formed at the booth of Chinese robotics firm Unitree, whose humanoid robots shook hands with attendees and performed backflips in front of shocked attendees.

Elsewhere, Xpeng Aero HT showed off what it has dubbed a “Ground Aircraft Carrier” – an electric van with a flying vehicle that can fit in the trunk. The company plans to make the first deliveries in 2026.

CES attendees were still buzzing about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote last night, which played in the lobby as guests arrived at the convention center.

Huang received a rock star reception as he unveiled Nvidia’s powerful next-generation Blackwell AI chipset lineup at the Michelob Ultra Arena inside the Mandalay Bay resort. Attendees lined up for hours to get inside.

At one point, the billionaire, who was wearing his leather jacket, joked that he wanted a beer after pulling a “shield” that displayed the full architecture of the AI ​​chip on stage for several minutes – drawing laughter from the crowd noisy.

Some content creators in the audience joked about playing “Nvidia bingo,” while Huang hit on some key words that fans of the chip supplier have come to expect from his speeches.

The chips, which use AI to deliver incredibly vivid graphics on devices used by gamers and software developers, were the centerpiece of an unveiling that initially pushed Nvidia’s stock to a new all-time high and drew praise positive by analysts. Shares later fell amid a broader market selloff.

Huang also spoke at length about plans for new AI models, including Nvidia Cosmos, a so-called “world foundation model” that the executive said would add to efforts to train software that helps driverless vehicles and robots navigate the world physical.

Many CES attendees and exhibitors joked that it was nearly impossible to find a booth that didn’t incorporate AI in some way.