By Holland Cooke
Consultant
Hello from Las Vegas, where 150,000+ of us – from around the world — are swarming. Think: hand sanitzer. And comfortable shoes.
To give you a sense of the scope of what’s up, here’s a PDF link to the slide deck from the Consumer Technology Association’s perennial “Tech Trends” research reveal: https://www.cta.tech/media/chwotebs/ces26_techtrendsdeck.pdf
They click “Buy,” then they click “Return.”
Now, Artificial Intelligence is cracking-down on E-commerce return fraud. In 2025, scammers cost us consumers an estimated seventy-six-and-a-half billion dollars, by applying for a product refund, then sending back something else of less value, like a cheap knock-off that can’t be resold.
“Happy Returns” is a UPS-owned company accepting no-box and no-label returns…which scammers LOVE, because it offers immediate refunds. So a new Artificial Intelligence tool called “Return Vision” will flag suspicious returns by analyzing patterns — early or frequent return requests, linked email addresses and past suspicious activity that could evade human detection. So, scammers, no matter how-quick-you-click, AI is watching.
When U.S. senators show up here, you know that CES isn’t just a gadget expo.
Broadband access is the new oxygen, and Artificial Intelligence is quietly creeping into the background of almost everything we do. Washington now sees consumer technology as a policy issue, impacting jobs, national security, and the USA economy. So lawmakers and high-ranking government officials come to CES to get face‑to‑face with companies building the tools they may soon be regulating; and to talk about new rules for how AI is used in phones, cars, and workplaces.
Tech companies want a say in those rules — so this is where the negotiations happen. Most CES coverage you see features shiny new gadgets, but the real action here is the growing partnership — and sometimes tension — between Big Tech and Big Government.
Help yourself to my 60-second CES reports.
They’re updated daily, for air all this week. Simply download from HollandCooke.com. No charge, no paperwork, no spot.
Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn