(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, and Alphabet Inc. autonomous driving unit Waymo have joined a growing list of companies pulling out of the CES technology conference scheduled for next month.
Most Read from Bloomberg
In a blog post on Thursday, Waymo cited “quickly rising Covid-19 infection rates” but said its executives would participate in virtual events. Similarly, Intel said it will send only a small number of staff to the Las Vegas event and switch its participation to the internet.
“After consulting with health officials and in the spirit of Intel’s safety policy, our plans for CES will move to a digital-first, live experience, with minimal on-site staff,” Intel said in a statement.
Intel, whose processors are the heart of most of the world’s personal computers, has historically been a large participant in the annual trade show that has attracted tens of thousands of attendees from around the world. The event also has evolved and morphed to become a major venue for the unveiling of innovation in the automotive industry.
An executive board member of Porsche AG, Barbara Frenkel, also canceled her plans to attend the conference scheduled to begin Jan. 5.
Over the past few days, exhibitors like T-Mobile US Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. have curtailed plans to attend the gathering in person. Other high-profile attendees, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Twitter Inc., won’t be going either. The Consumer Technology Association, which runs the event, said Wednesday that the cancellations add up to less than 7% of its exhibit floor. The organization said it has received 42 cancellation notices from exhibitors but that it has added 60 new ones since last week.
(Updates with Intel’s pullout in the first paragraph.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Add Comment