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

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

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

In her sit-down with keynote host Catherine Herridge — the award-winning investigative journalist fired by CBS News last year — Yaccarino touted a “holy grail” advertising-focused feature called “Trend Genius.”

The software automatically boosts ad campaigns on X when they are linked to a trending topic – such as an LVMH partnership with actress Zendaya that surged during the Golden Globes.

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

The feature was beta tested within the last several months, she added.

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

“Mark, Meta – welcome to the party,” Yaccarino quipped.

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’s two better people than Elon and Vivek to do that,” Yaccarino said. “As Americans, we should all be rooting for the overwhelming success of Doge. I would expect other countries to follow.”

Elsewhere at the world’s biggest trade show, tech policy experts faced off in a heated debate about whether antitrust enforcement playing out in Washington DC is helping or hurting innovation.

Luther Lowe, a major Google critic 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 at the expense of smaller competitors.

“If there is vigorous enforcement against that kind of behavior when its 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 chair signaled that he would continue a hard-nosed approach to competition policy.

“They’re going to be guided by an earnest, pro-innovation agenda,” said Tyler Grimm, principal at Miller Strategies and ex-chief counsel at the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee.

The show floor at Las Vegas Convention Center featured thousands of exhibits, including a huge display for Segway, which showcased a robotic lawnmower.

Tech giant Siemens’ stand included details about its collaboration with aircraft startup JetZero, which is using the company’s design software to fine-tune a futuristic wide-bodied passenger plane with engines on top and individual bag storage. A Siemens rep said the firms were aiming to have a flying plane by 2030.

A huge crowd formed at the booth for 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 an “Land Aircraft Carrier” – an electric van with a flying vehicle that can fit in the trunk. The company plans to make its first deliveries in 2026.

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

Huang received a rock star-like reception while unveiling Nvidia’s powerful next-gen Blackwell AI chip lineup at the jam-packed Michelob Ultra Arena inside Mandalay Bay resort. Attendees lined up for several hours to get inside.

At one point, the billionaire, who wore his trademark leather jacket, joked that he wanted a beer after lugging a “shield” displaying the full AI chip architecture on stage for several minutes – drawing laughs from the raucous crowd.

Some content creators in the audience joked about playing “Nvidia bingo,” as Huang hit several buzzwords that fans of the chip supplier have come to expect from his speeches.

The chips, which use AI to render incredibly lifelike graphics in devices used by gamers and software developers, were the centerpiece of a presentation that initially pushed Nvidia shares to a new all-time high and drew positive reviews from analysts. Shares later plunged amid a broader market selloff.

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

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