Amazon.com, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Twitter and Pinterest will not send teams to CES in Las Vegas as concerns grow about Omicron, the firms said.

CES, which serves as an annual showcase of new trends and gadgets in the technology industry has attracted more than 180 000 people from around the world to a sprawling array of casinos and convention spaces in the past.

Amazon and its smart-home unit Ring said they would not be on site at next month’s event due to the “quickly shifting situation and uncertainty around the Omicron variant” of coronavirus, the firm said.

US wireless carrier and conference sponsor T-Mobile also said the vast majority of its contingent would no longer be going and its chief executive would not deliver a keynote speech.

“We are prioritising the safety of our team and other attendees with this decision,” T-Mobile said, while expressing confidence that CES organisers were taking exhaustive protective measures.

The other companies had not planned large in-person gatherings.

The Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES, said on Tuesday that the show would run from 5-8 January. Health precautions would include vaccination requirements, masking and the availability of Covid-19 tests, it added.

Online

Twitter had planned to have some employees attend, to participate on panels. However, both Twitter and Facebook have said they are now exploring online opportunities.

Pinterest, before cancelling, had planned a scaled-down meeting area for its sales and partner teams, compared to years past.

But many companies, such as Qualcomm, Sony and Google have said they are sticking with plans to attend and show off new hardware or host meetings.

Other companies had long ago planned for virtual presences, among them chipmaker Nvidia, which is having two executives deliver a keynote address by video. — Elizabeth Culliford and Sheila Dang, (c) 2021 Reuters