Google, Waymo, GM Cancel In-Person CES 2020 Attendance Due to Rising COVID-19 Cases

General Motors, Alphabet’s Google, and its self-driving auto-technology company Waymo joined the list of companies that will no longer attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in person early next month due to rising COVID-19 infections on Thursday.

GM CEO Mary Barra was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the annual conference on January 5, during which the company would have unveiled its first electric Silverado pickup truck. According to a spokesman, Barra will still deliver the speech and presentation remotely.

“With our activation at CES 2022 in January, we have decided to take an all-digital approach,” the US automaker said in a statement. “We are continuing with our plans to share significant company news, including the unveiling of the Chevrolet Silverado EV, on January 5.”

“After careful consideration, we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement, adding that Google would continue to “identify and support virtual opportunities.”

Waymo stated in a blog post that it hopes to participate virtually, if possible, at the Las Vegas event, which has traditionally drawn over 180,000 people from all over the world to discuss emerging technologies and party all night with business contacts.

TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, announced a virtual event for partners and advertisers. Also on Thursday, Intel announced that it would reduce its CES staffing.

“Our employees’, partners’, and customers’ health and safety is always a top priority,” the chipmaker stated. “For CES, we intend to transition to a digital-first, live experience with minimal on-site staff.”

Several other companies, including Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Twitter, Lenovo Group, AT&T, and Amazon, announced earlier this week that they would not send employees due to the spread of Omicron.

The event will still be held in person from January 5-8, according to CES officials, with “strong safety measures in place,” such as vaccination requirements, masking, and the availability of COVID-19 tests.

“Our mission remains to convene the industry and provide those who are unable to attend in person with the opportunity to experience the magic of CES digitally,” CES said in a statement. “CES 2022 will go forward as significant innovation for global health and safety, mobility, and problem solving will be displayed.”

It went on to say that while it had received 42 exhibitor cancellations since last Thursday, that represented less than 7% of the exhibitor floor, and that 60 others had been added.

Last month, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was discovered in Hong Kong and southern Africa, raising global concerns about a rapidly spreading new version of the virus. Coronavirus infections have skyrocketed wherever the highly infectious Omicron virus has spread, prompting new restrictions in a number of countries.