Better Offline: "The Anti-Consumer Electronics Show with Steve Burke" (Jan 14, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Ed Zitron sits down with Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus for a debrief on the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), delivering a raw, sardonic post-mortem on how the once-vibrant expo for innovative tech devolved into a showcase of corporate double-speak and AI hype with little substance—especially on products for actual consumers.

Together, they critique the major tech companies' keynotes (Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Lenovo), revealing a deep industry malaise: a relentless pursuit of AI growth for its own sake, ignoring actual user benefits, and resulting in a palpable disconnect between tech elites and the needs—or interests—of ordinary people.

Key Topics & Insights

1. A Dismal CES—"Drowning in Nothing"

• Ed opens by describing the event as “feeling like I was drowning in nothing” post-CES ([02:30]).
• Both hosts agree CES was the worst in memory, with keynotes that contained little real news for consumers.
• Critique: Event felt overtaken by "AI for AI’s sake," government involvement, and recycled announcements.

2. Nvidia Keynote: Hype Over Substance

• The duo attended the Nvidia presentation, describing it as disorganized and un-informative:

  • Lengthy, buried actual technical updates. ([03:22])
  • DLSS 4.5 and other relevant consumer advancements got no spotlight.
  • Instead, a focus on “Omniverse,” which remains poorly explained and was perceived as boring and vague.
  • Memorable moment: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke to Star Wars robots in a lengthy, awkward segment ([14:13–17:13]).

  Quote:
  “If you dropped your phone after that, you would have heard it on the crowd mic.” — Steve Burke ([14:13])

• Tech “news” they did share, like announcing that Vera Rubin is in manufacturing, was meaningless without specifics ([13:14]).

• Huge disconnect: Nvidia, at a consumer show, focused on enterprise demos and speculation, not actual consumer products ([09:04]).

3. The AI Bubble, Dystopian Hype & Doomerism

• Industry obsession with AI noted as ungrounded, with companies spinning empty sci-fi utopias/dystopias to sell products.

• Greg Brockman (OpenAI) appears at AMD keynote, making questionable claims about AI “saving lives” and “optimizing child management” ([07:23–07:48]).

  Quote:
  “He, like, told some stories I question the veracity of about how AI has saved the lives of people and blah, blah, blah, then they talked about a child management optimization.” — Steve Burke ([07:23])

• Both co-hosts mock the prevalent “AI doomerism” and utopianism as little more than sales tactics ([11:21–12:29]).

  • “They're lying about it. They're just... making stuff up.” — Ed Zitron ([11:53])

4. Corporate/Government Convergence on Stage

• AMD brings up Michael Kratsios, a White House policy adviser, for a mini-policy summit on AI deregulation—during a supposed consumer keynote ([06:00]).
• Hosts found this surreal and alarming for the consumer orientation of CES; the whole audience left confused ([06:32–07:11]).

5. What Was Actually Announced?

Nvidia

• Real advancements, such as DLSS 4.5 improvements, were glossed over:
  • “That’s one of those where it's... not just bullshit two letters 'AI.' It actually does something.” — Steve Burke ([29:55])
  • Still, even these updates could make gaming experience meaningfully better.

AMD & Intel

• AMD “re-announced” a CPU, yet focused keynote on Helios AI racks and brought in government/Big AI players.
• Neither company offered specifics or meaningful demos; the actual technological advances were sidelined for B2B/investor talk ([34:11]).
• Intel’s keynote was deemed “least worst,” with some details on their next-gen chip process (18A/Angstrom, backside power delivery), but poorly explained ([31:47–33:34]).

Lenovo

• Rented the Vegas Sphere for an AI “super agent” demo (Kira) that showed little besides generic LLM capabilities, inaccurate answers, and calendar summaries ([43:02–50:33]).
  • “It goes, Las Vegas's fashion mall has some Labubus that kids will go crazy for.” — Ed Zitron ([45:00])
• Underneath: Just an Azure-connected LLM, branded as if it were cutting-edge.

6. Industry Malaise, Economic Fragility & Consumer Alienation

• Tech companies increasingly favor enterprise and speculative AI narratives over real consumer-facing innovation.
• Even hardware component makers face layoffs and possible collapse, with the “AI bubble” distorting industry economics ([53:37]).
• Rising prices for basics (RAM, cases) and consolidation—from AMD's struggles to the dominance of Nvidia.
• Bizarre sentiment: Finding a satisfying wall plug is more exciting and innovative than the barrage of AI “solutions” on display ([53:10–54:41]).
• Tech is no longer seen as being “for people”: “Technology has stopped being built for people, so I feel like people are just understandably frustrated and tired of it.” — Ed Zitron ([61:56])

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Ed Zitron (on CES 2026):
  “Just feeling like I was drowning in nothing is the best way to put it.” ([02:30])

• Steve Burke (on government/policy on stage): “We’re having a White House government policy meeting on AI on stage in front of an audience. Like, what am I watching?” ([06:32])

• Steve Burke (mocking AI use cases):
  “He had a line about… the goal is to get there and have AI provide these—or help with these important moments and optimize them. And this is after he’s talking about managing children.” ([07:48])

• Ed Zitron (on AI Doomerism):
  “They're lying about it. They're just... making stuff up. It’s... just lying.” ([11:53])

• Steve Burke (on Nvidia keynote):
  “If you dropped your phone after that, you would have heard it on the crowd mic.” ([14:13])

• Ed Zitron (on the overall show):
  “Consumer Electronic Show. Consumer. For the consumers. Yeah. Nothing.” ([08:56])

• Steve Burke (on tech industry morale):
  “It's just like, I've never seen it this bad. And it's not just technology, it's just... AI and the need to keep this bubble inflated has crept into everything.” ([55:49])

Segment Timestamps

• Introduction to episode/post-CES mood: [01:53–02:30]
• Nvidia keynote breakdown and critique: [02:46–04:42], [13:14–20:53]
• AMD/White House/AI event at CES: [05:19–08:56]
• AI Doomerism, empty hype: [08:28–13:14]
• Omniverse confusion & skepticism: [09:47–14:13], [21:15–23:48]
• Industry negativity vs. realism: [10:34–12:29], [51:07–55:49]
• Consumer malaise, economic reflections: [53:12–54:41], [55:49–59:21]
• Wrap-up, macroeconomics, and the future: [60:46–67:06]

Final Thoughts: Tech for Whom?

• Both hosts are disillusioned not just by CES, but by the industry’s direction: an endless cycle of growth-at-all-costs, untethered AI hype, and a blatant disregard for the needs of actual consumers.
• The most “innovative” moments of CES were finding a well-designed plug or an Anker surge protector with USB-C—tiny comforts in a field dominated by vapid buzzwords and finance-driven strategy.

Closing Reflection:
“Technology has stopped being built for people, so I feel like people are just understandably frustrated and tired of it. And this CES really did kind of show that the companies are in that 'fuck you, consumer' mode.” — Ed Zitron ([61:56])

For Further Info:

• Gamers Nexus Data Center Series upcoming ([66:38])
• Ed Zitron’s Better Offline newsletter and Discord (see show notes)

This summary distills the episode’s candor and frustration, offering a clear roadmap for anyone interested in what really happened at CES 2026—and what it means for the tech industry at large.