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\n\tThe entertainment community has kept tabs on CES<\/a> for decades, monitoring the giant Las Vegas tech confab and fitting in semi-regular trips there. <\/p>\n \n\tThe timing, though, coincides with a busy stretch spanning the Palm Springs and Sundance film festivals, the Golden Globes and the ramp-up of Oscar season.<\/p>\n \n\tThis year, organizers at the Consumer Technology<\/a> Association have upped the show\u2019s entertainment factor. CES this year is inaugurating a partnership with the Cannes March\u00e9 du Film and will see an expanded presence for Netflix alongside recent regulars like Disney<\/a>, Amazon and NBCUniversal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tA tumultuous 2025, which was punctuated by Netflix\u2019s $82.7 billion proposal to acquire the studios-and-streaming division of Warner Bros. Discovery, the ultimate collision of tech and Hollywood, proved that being fluent in tech talk isn\u2019t just a laudable goal. For those in traditional media roles, it could be a survival tactic. And survival is the word when we\u2019re talking about a convention that last year hosted 142,465 attendees.<\/p>\n \n\tParamount Skydance, which is pursuing its own hostile bid for WBD, is backed by Oracle, one of the main combatants in the global AI<\/a> race. The latest AI wares will be exhibited in Las Vegas, as usual, but there could be a more tangible wow factor this year given that heavy spending by major companies is starting to reach fruition. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities expects tangible effects of companies\u2019 massive investments in AI to be on vivid display.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe vibe of CES this year is around new chip announcements, AI driven products on the consumer ecosystem, and in essence a new era opening up for companies around the world set to capitalize on $3 trillion to $4 trillion of AI Cap Ex hitting the market over the next 3 years,\u201d Ives wrote in a recent note to clients. \u201cWe also expect a growing China tech presence at the show with robotics and smart vehicles (Xpeng-flying car, etc.) some key highlights on the floor.\u00a0With AI demand accelerating globally and our recent Asia supply chain checks continuing to show unprecedented demand, we view CES this year as kicking off a new AI consumer age as the masses now start to head down this AI Revolution golden path.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tJensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia and a Pied Piper of AI, will deliver his annual keynote on Monday, which is technically the day before the show officially opens. (It wraps up Thursday.)<\/p>\n \n\tHuang\u2019s comments are apt to move the market, Ives believes, and Nvidia\u2019s stock (up more than 1,300% in the past five years) attests to his potency as a prognosticator. Nvidia aside, this year\u2019s CES will be \u201cone of the most important moments\u201d for AI of late, in Ives\u2019 view, with recognition now fairly universal that the arrival of AI is a \u201cparadigm shift that is still in the early days of playing out.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOne new initiative that attests to how the paradigm shift is affecting the film community is a new venture announced last May<\/a> by Cannes\u2019 March\u00e9 du Film and the CTA. They are launching a new innovation award for or companies, startups, entrepreneurs and filmmakers developing transformative tech in filmmaking, production, and distribution.<\/p>\n