Nvidia's new GPU series led an avalanche of entertainment-related announcements at CES

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a packed Las Vegas arena, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang stood on stage and marveled over the crisp real-time computer graphics displayed on the screen behind him. He watched as a dark-haired woman walked through ornate gilded double doors and took in the rays of light that poured in through stained glass windows.

“The amount of geometry that you saw was absolutely insane,” Huang told an audience of thousands at CES 2025 Monday night. “It would have been impossible without artificial intelligence.”

The chipmaker and AI darling unveiled its GeForce RTX 50 Series desktop and laptop GPUs — powered by its new Blackwell artificial intelligence chip — kicking off a string of entertainment-related AI announcements and discussions at the trade show.

“Blackwell, the engine of AI, has arrived for PC gamers, developers and creatives,” Huang said, adding that Blackwell “is the most significant computer graphics innovation since we introduced programmable shading 25 years ago.” Blackwell technology is now in full production, he said.

Semiconductor maker AMD unveiled its latest Ryzen 9 and AI series processors Monday morning, boasting unprecedented performance for gamers and content creators. The new chips help AMD to further compete with rivals like Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm in the budding AI PC space.

“With the next generation of AI-enabled processors, we are proliferating AI to devices everywhere, and bringing the power of a workstation to thin and light laptops,” said Jack Huynh, senior vice president and general manager of computing and graphics group at AMD.

Google, meanwhile, previewed new AI tools for Google TV that use Gemini to make “interacting with your TV more intuitive and helpful.” Users, the company said, will be able to have a “natural” conversation with their TVs to ask about things like travel and history, or ask the TV for an overview of the day’s news.

Samsung also showed off its foray in AI and announced its “Samsung Vision AI” that includes a click to search feature allowing users to do things like identify an actor on screen, and a translation feature that provides real-time subtitles. It also integrates with the rest of the company’s smart home ecosystem.

SW Yong, president and head of visual display business at Samsung Electronics, said the company sees TVs as “interactive, intelligent partners” rather than “one-directional devices for passive consumption.”

“We’re reimagining what screens can do, connecting entertainment, personalization and lifestyle solutions into one seamless experience to simplify your life,” he said.

But not all of the AI discussion revolved around gadgetry at CES.

Leaders in technology and entertainment discussed current trends in generative AI ahead of Tuesday's conference opener. In one panel discussion on entertainment copyright and AI, some attorneys and experts gave their opinions on whether whether the federal government would pass regulations on the technology this year, especially around the issue of gen-AI created deep fakes.

Some believe the courts and individual states would tackle the issue before the government would.

“There have been no major decisions on this issue. They will be litigated and tried in the next year or so,” said Chad Hummel, an attorney at McKool Smith.

Lisa Oratz, an attorney at Perkins Coie who represents clients in the publishing, arts and entertainment industries, acknowledged that AI technology should be regulated but noted it has an “upside.” She said many of her tech clients’ jobs are being made easier because AI helps alleviate iterative work.

“You can make content creation faster, easier and more affordable. You can do things like reduce barriers to entry and democratize content,” she said.

However, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said that digital replication was central to their 2023 film and television strike, and that a lack of protections around the unregulated use of AI is core to negotiations between their video game performers and the industry.

“It is a tool and it is also an existential threat,” he said.

A screen showing the new BMW panoramic iDrive is displayed during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

LiberLive showcases their stringless guitar at 2025 CES Unveiled, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

The Cooper robot is on display at the Learning Resources booth at Pepcom ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. The STEM-friendly robot is aimed at helping kids as young as five years old get exposure to the basics of coding. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People walk by a sign ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Atsuhiro Iwakami, president of Aniplex, speaks during a Sony news conference ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People wait to enter the show floor during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People watch a video displayed on a screen at a LG Electronics booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A 77'' OLED TV is pictured at a LG Electronics booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

The Shokz OpenFit 2 headphones are displayed at a Shokz booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A Kurimoto MRF glove is shown at a Kurimoto booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A Toshiba dual color picture frame is displayed at a Toshiba booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

People look at a display of Samsung screens and products at the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Samsung SmartThings products are displayed at a Samsung booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A Samsung employee shows how electronics using the Connected Home Experience powered by Samsung SmartThings uses GenAI for 3D furniture creation at a Samsung booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

A display shows Samsung SmartThings technology compatible with boats at a Samsung booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

People wait in line to enter a Panasonic booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a Nvidia news conference ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a Nvidia news conference ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a Nvidia news conference ahead of the CES tech show Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers in the freezing, high-altitude Tibet region in western China searched a second day for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists, before shifting their focus to resettling the survivors.

More tents, quilts, stoves and other relief items were being delivered Wednesday to people whose homes were uninhabitable or unsafe. Temperatures fall well below freezing overnight in an area with an average altitude of about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet).

In video aired by state broadcaster CCTV, workers could be seen erecting rows of tents with metal frames and stakes after nightfall Tuesday. Meant as temporary shelter, they were lined with quilted padding to keep out the cold. The workers distributed packaged food items to the shelter occupants, donning blue winter jackets over their orange uniforms.

The confirmed death toll stood at 126 with another 188 injured as of Tuesday evening, and no further updates were issued during the day on Wednesday. Hong Li, the director of Tibet's Emergency Management Department, told a late afternoon news conference that the work had shifted from search and rescue to resettlement and reconstruction.

The earthquake struck an outlying county in the city of Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism. It was not immediately known whether he was in his Tashi Lhunpo Monastery at the time or how much damage Tibet's second largest city sustained. The epicenter was about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the main part of the city, which is called Xigaze in Chinese and sprawls across a high altitude plain.

More than 500 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured magnitude 7.1. China’s earthquake center recorded a magnitude of 6.8. The quake was also about 75 kilometers (50 miles) from Mount Everest and the border with Nepal, where the shaking sent people running out of their homes in the capital.

A candlelight vigil was planned on Wednesday night in Dharamsala, India, home to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s highest figure, and a large Tibetan population. An announcement on the Dalai Lama’s website said he would lead a prayer ceremony in memory of the victims on Thursday.

The Dalai Lama is viewed by the Chinese government as bent on making Tibet independent of China.

Asked about the prayer ceremony, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, “We are very clear about the separatist nature and political schemes of the Dalai Lama and remain highly vigilant.”

Guo expressed confidence that the people in the earthquake zone will be able to rebuild under “the strong leadership” of China's ruling Communist Party.

The Chinese government and followers of the Dalai Lama have feuded over who should hold the position of Panchen Lama since a boy appointed by the Dalai Lama disappeared in the mid-1990s and a Chinese-backed candidate was approved for the position. The Dalai Lama denounced the move and has refused to recognize the current Panchen Lama.

China's government says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they were functionally independent for most of that time. China's People's Liberation Army invaded the territory in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled to India nine years later during an uprising against Chinese rule, seen as eroding Tibet's unique Buddhist culture.

The death toll from the quake included at least 22 of the 222 residents of Gurum, the official Xinhua News Agency cited the village’s Communist Party chief, Tsering Phuntsog, as saying. The victims included his 74-year-old mother, and several other of his relatives remained buried in the debris.

“Even young people couldn’t run out of the houses when the earthquake hit, let alone old people and children,” Tsering Phuntsog said.

State broadcaster CCTV showed orange-suited rescue workers with sniffing search dogs clambering over huge chunks of debris in the wreckage of homes. In the hardest-hit areas, rows of houses had been reduced to rubble. Blue disaster emergency tents with bright red Chinese flags flapping in the wind had been set up nearby.

More than 3,600 houses collapsed, according to a preliminary survey, and 46,000 residents had been relocated, state media said.

Tibet is generally closed to foreign journalists over reports about the ill treatment of the population by Chinese authorities.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who visited survivors in the quake-hit area, called for the acceleration of post-disaster reconstruction to ensure they can be safe and warm this winter, Xinhua reported. Power and communications in the area have been restored, allowing smoother delivery of emergency goods, it said.

Bodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

A Tibetan woman offers a prayer in the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake, at a Tibetan camp in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A Tibetan woman offers a prayer in the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake, at a Tibetan camp in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A Tibetan woman lights a butter lamp and offers a prayer in the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake, at a Tibetan camp in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A Tibetan woman offers a prayer in the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake, at a Tibetan camp in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, first responders perform rescue work at a village in Changsuo Township of Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025 (Hu Zikui/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Liu Yousheng/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Jigme Dorje/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, medical workers treat injured people at the temporary tents set up at the People's Hospital in the aftermath of an earthquake in Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Ding Ting/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers check on an injured resident in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Liu Yousheng/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers transfer the injured at Zhacun Village of Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Tuesday Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)