Shapiro, in CES Stump Speech, Asks Regulators for ‘Reasonable Guidelines’

CTA President Gary Shapiro, in his state of the industry stump speech Wednesday before a live audience in the Venetian’s Palazzo Ballroom to open CES 2022, dispensed with his customary list of association policy and standards objectives, instead imploring political leaders to help the private sector nurture technology innovation or get out of the tech industry’s way. General Motors CEO Mary Barra, who until two weeks ago was to have taken the same CES keynote stage but withdrew for COVID-19's omicron health and safety reasons (see 2112270040), delivered her hourlong remarks on GM’s electric-vehicle initiatives via video she recorded in an empty Fox Theatre in Detroit.

Policymakers need to help industry “fuel a tech-savvy global workforce that meets the needs of business,” said Shapiro. “We need reasonable guidelines and shared rules of the road for industry to make it clear what is legal and what is not. That would invigorate companies to do business all over the world.”

Shapiro mentioned nothing in his remarks about COVID-19, but Karen Chupka, CTA executive president-CES, took the stage to say the association was "committed to measures that would make CES the best in class for safety." Show organizers "heard loud and clear from our exhibitors that they were ready to return to in-person events, and that the exhibitions and conferences are the lifeblood of small businesses," said Chupka.

Governments should “reward entrepreneurship and celebrate growth and stop punishing companies, especially American companies, for success,” said Shapiro. “As leaders in democratic societies, we should also embrace technology as a cornerstone of our most precious individual liberties.” But all too often, “political leaders address uncertainty by limiting our free speech,” he said. When they do so, it “undermines the very principles that allow innovation to thrive and democracy to prosper,” he said.

Technology creates “new avenues for communication that allow us to speak our minds” or “exercise our religious beliefs,” said Shapiro. “Technology can unite us. Instead of defaulting to political talking points, we ask political leaders to work with the tech community to support innovation and its extraordinary benefits.”

But the “buck doesn’t stop with policy,” said Shapiro. “The business community also must lead boldly and by example. We must take principled stands and promote positive community engagement.” The tech industry, “for a start,” should promote “diversity and inclusion, not only because it’s the right thing to do -- and it is, for a lot of very good reasons -- but because it’s the smart thing to do,” he said. “It’s an issue that our industry has grappled with for years, and while we’re happy to see some progress, we know that more can be done.”

GM’s Barra, as expected, highlighted Chevrolet’s impending introduction of Silverado EV “work trucks” and other “trims,” including a high-end end model designation called the RST. The first Silverado EVs will go to fleet customer Enterprise rentals and infrastructure company Quanta Systems, followed by retail introductions in 2023. The first fleet Silverado EVs will be capable of a range of "at least" 400 miles on a full, single charge, said Barra, accompanied by a fine-print disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. Consumer models, some with shorter ranges on a full charge, will be available next year at an assortment of different price points, she said.

Barra’s big surprise announcement was about a deal for GM-owned BrightDrop to supply Walmart with a fleet of EV vans for last-mile e-commerce deliveries, following a similar BrightDrop program with FedEx. Walmart will leverage the BrightDrop arrangement to expand its in-home delivery and installation program to 30 million U.S. homes by the end of 2022, from 6 million now, said CEO Doug McMillon, appearing on separate video. “We’ll need a lot of vehicles to do it sustainably,” he said. “BrightDrop is an important part of this equation.”

Walmart “reserved” 5,000 BrightDrop EVs “that will begin hitting the road in 2023,” said McMillon. “The vans will not only be used to support in-home delivery in 2023, but also our broader last-mile delivery initiatives.” Those include deploying BrightDrop EVs “to enable low-emission deliveries for other retailers and brands” like Home Depot, plus small retail independents, under the Walmart GoLocal “delivery as a service business,” he said.