Trump administration officials to talk tech policy at annual CES industry extravaganza in Las Vegas

The Trump administration will send a big contingent of senior officials to an annual technology gathering in Las Vegas next week as the tech industry faces increased scrutiny in Washington.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, White House adviser Ivanka Trump and US Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios will be among more than 150 other government officials from the United States and around the world to attend CES, the annual tech industry event.

In prior years, the event has drawn fewer senior US officials – typically just one cabinet official – and did not draw any in 2019 because of a government shutdown.

The event, which runs from Jan. 7-10, draws more than 175,000 visitors and 4,500 companies exhibiting new technologies, including airlines, carmakers, battery manufacturers and hundreds of tech start-ups.

The White House has touted technology improvements as a way to boost US employment and is working to ease regulatory barriers to advanced technologies like drones and self-driving cars. At the same time, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are probing whether big tech firms like Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon.com and Apple are violating antitrust laws.

The largest tech firms generally skip CES in favour of holding their own events.