This Week in AI: 2025 Ushers in the Era of the AI PC

Last year's crush of artificial intelligence-infused devices and gadgets may have been just a warm-up for what we'll see in 2025, based on what was on show at this year's CES in Las Vegas.

Everyone's favorite two-letter tech trend was everywhere, from cars and drones to TVs and kitchen appliances. But perhaps it was most prevalent among laptops, desktops and handhelds made by the likes of Lenovo, Acer, HP, Dell, Razer, MSIand more. Many of the biggest AI headlines came from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, whose new chips promised improved performance for everything from gaming to coding.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said his company's newest $549 RTX 5070 GPU was able to offer similar performance as its previous-generation $1,499 4090, thanks to the technology.

“It’s impossible without artificial intelligence,” Huang said while announcing the upgrades, which would start hitting store shelves later this month. He added that the company has developed a mobile graphics chip for laptops that’s capable of offering the performance of the previous-generation 4090 by using half the power. “The energy efficiency is off the charts.”

Those efficiency gains aren't just helping to make our games look better, though they are. Huang said AI is also at the heart of new chips for self-driving cars and humanoid robots.

Don't forget about...

AI wasn't just about the computer world, though. Other AI gadgets at the show included an electric wood pellet smoker that monitors food as it cooks. The grilling maker Brisk It showed off its Vera AI, which can generate recipes and automate cooking. It'll even remind you to spritz your ribs and adjust the temperature if you forget.

Google is building automated news summaries into TVs, while Samsung is adding AI-upscaling to its products through its Vision AI. Media playing app VLC announced AI-powered automated subtitles while livestream software Streamlabs has created a computer-powered sidekick to cohost live gaming sessions.

Also, AI glasses, AI-powered robot vacuums, and AI-informed strength training. Oh, and an AI oven. And a smart walking cane (with AI). And another chatbot AI app. And an AI pen. And an AI voice recorder.

AI among the hottest jobs out there

In not-at-all-shocking news, AI engineer took the top spot on LinkedIn's Jobs on the Rise list. The second spot? Artificial intelligence consultant.

It's not all AI though. Physical therapist was third.

As Axios notes, the University of Maryland has even created an AI jobs tracker that found 16,591 jobs created in the US in November.

Holiday shopping amped up by AI

AI chatbots helped to supercharge shopping over the holidays, helping to boost online sales in the US by nearly 4%, according to a report from Salesforce.

"Online sales rose to $282 billion in the United States between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 from $272 billion a year ago, ahead of Salesforce's forecast of 2% growth, even as discounts were tempered," Reuters wrote about the report. Salesforce added that shoppers used AI chatbots and tools 42 percent more than they did a year prior.

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Ian Sherr is a widely published journalist who's covered nearly every major tech company from Apple to Netflix, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more for CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNET.