SK Group draws about 60,000 visitors to CES 2024 exhibit

The SK Group exhibition at CES 2024, which ended on the 12th, drew praise from visitors around the world with its “Inspire Happiness” theme.

SK said it had tentatively estimated that about 60,000 people had visited its group exhibition at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) over the four days from the 9th to the 12th, as of the third day, the 11th. That was more than double the roughly 30,000 visitors to SK’s exhibition at CES 2023 in January last year.

Throughout the event, long lines formed outside the SK booth as visitors waited to enter when the exhibition opened at 9 a.m. each day. SK Group turned challenging topics such as carbon reduction and AI into theme park attractions, presenting the happiness a net-zero world could bring in an accessible and entertaining way.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the SK theme park on the opening day of CES, the 9th. “It’s been about a year since ChatGPT came out. Until then, I hadn’t thought about how AI would change the world, but now that a breakthrough has happened, it seems everyone is trying to catch the wave,” he said.

At CES 2022, SK Group pledged to cut 200 million tons of carbon emissions—1% of the global reduction target for 2030. At CES 2023, it focused on the “actions” needed to put its carbon-reduction roadmap into practice, showcasing SK’s technologies and ongoing businesses. This year, under the theme “Inspire Happiness,” the group created an exhibition where visitors could experience the joy of a net-zero world free of the climate crisis through all five senses.

The six-meter-wide spherical LED display “Wonder Globe,” reminiscent of Las Vegas landmark Sphere, became a popular social media photo spot thanks to its varied themed videos. Visitors waited more than an hour to try the “Train Adventure,” a ride on a hydrogen fuel cell-powered train, and the “Magic Carpet” exhibit, where they could board an urban air mobility (UAM) vehicle and watch videos about carbon reduction and AI solutions.

Austin Anderson, a visitor from New York, said, “The SK exhibition is the most distinctive booth at CES this year. I had fun feeling like a kid again as I got my fortune told by AI and watched a dynamic car show featuring a robotic arm.”

International media also showed strong interest in SK’s exhibits. Power Lunch, CNBC’s business news program, introduced the SK exhibition to viewers across the United States in a live broadcast on the 10th. The program used “Wonder Globe,” where the main video was shown, as the backdrop for its first CES 2024 feature and gave prominent coverage to the exhibition’s carbon-reduction and AI displays.

SK Group said it had presented carbon-reduction and AI technologies—which can be difficult to understand—in new ways that anyone could follow. It added that it would continue working to engage more stakeholders in and build support for SK’s journey toward net zero.