In 1967, the first CES (fka Consumer Electronics Show) debuted in New York City, with pocket radios as a star of the show.

Fast-forward more than 50 years, and when it kicks off later this week, CES 2023 is expected to draw more than 100,000 attendees—more than 5x its original count.

• The tech itself has seen significant upgrades, too, with advancements ranging from AI-equipped tractors and whole-bean coffee capsules to tactile displays for the visually impaired and pipe-exploring robots.

Emerging Tech Brew spoke with John Kelley, VP and acting show director of CES, for the inside scoop on this year’s tech trends.

Trend lines: More than 1,000 startups from 20+ countries will exhibit, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the event’s first-ever pavilion from Africa.

The theme of this year’s event, in partnership with the World Academy of Art and Science, will be tech’s role in supporting the pillars of what the UN calls “human security,” like “food, access to healthcare, personal income, environmental protection, personal safety, community security, and political freedom.”

This year...Key categories will include healthcare tech, Web3, the metaverse, digital payments, security, food tech, and transportation and mobility. As for AI? Kelley called it “more of an ingredient technology” that is “baked into” many other categories at CES.

Click here to read our snapshot of a few headline tech trends.—HF

2022 will be remembered in the IT and tech worlds as a year of ups and downs, boom and bust, hires and layoffs. It will also be remembered for a spike in ransomware attacks and a corresponding rise in cyber insurance premiums, as the realities of managing risk finally hit home.

A report from British security firm Panaseer reported that 82% of surveyed cyber insurance analysts expect prices to continue to rise for the next two years. The rise in premiums corresponds to a rise in ransomware attacks.

• US banks flagged ransomware transactions rising in 2021 to over $1.2 billion, up from less than $500 million a year before.
• That increased risk has inspired a search for answers from companies desperate to avoid a level of risk that has the potential to put them permanently in the red.

Big picture: Mark Brown, global managing director of digital trust consulting at the British Standards Institution, told IT Brew that the growth in cyber insurance over the past decade is something people 20 years ago would barely have conceived of. But since 2013–2014, Brown has watched as the market has evolved. That change motivated the impulse to diffuse the risk of attacks at the lowest cost possible. Keep reading the story on IT Brew here.—EH

Before 2022 wound down, we asked you all, our brilliant readers, to take a deep gaze into your crystal balls and predict which of the following four technologies would be most important in 2023: generative AI, EV batteries, satellite connectivity, or the metaverse.

The results are in: Among our 1,123 respondents, 51% said EV batteries would be most important in the new year, while 28% said it’d be generative AI.

• Another 14% identified satellite connectivity as the most important among the four, while, much to Zuck’s chagrin, just 7% selected the metaverse.

Zoom in: In 2022, the auto industry’s electrification journey crossed the point of no return. Major automakers announced, expanded, and accelerated electrification plans; the IRA codified EV tax credits for manufacturers and consumers alike; electric models made up 5% of new-car sales in the US; and the EU, New York, and California all banned the sale of new gas-powered cars after 2035.

But one major constraint on this revolution is the global supply of batteries, a challenge that could prove trickier to manage than the semiconductor shortage, according to some auto industry execs. Click here to read our recent look at the state of the battery industry.—DM

This week’s poll: Compared to last year, do you plan to spend more or less on new technology purchases in 2023?

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IDK

Stat: Tech companies cut more than 150k jobs last year, per estimates from Layoffs.fyi cited by the WSJ. For comparison, the site reported that about 80k tech jobs were cut in 2020 and 15k in 2021.

Quote: “We’re going to have to build a semiconductor economy that attracts people when they have a lot of other choices.”—Mitch Daniels, former president of Purdue University, via the New York Times

Read: Three technologies that took off in 2022.

For engineering enthusiasts: IEEE Spectrum’s 11 engineering milestones to watch for in 2023.

For potential car buyers: A list of the EVs that qualify for the US’s new EV tax credit.

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions:

• Emerging Tech Brew’s 2022 in review
• Three inflection points for emerging tech in 2022
• A breakout year for AI art brings as many questions as answers