Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stands on stage and gestures widely with both handsMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Google, Facebook, and Intel have all canceled their plans to attend the CES tech conference in Las Vegas next month, citing a surge in COVID-1 9 cases. Microsoft said on Friday that it would also not attend the conference in-person, The Verge first reported. Many of these companies will retain a digital spirit at CES.

Microsoft is the latest tech company to drop its attendance at the Ces tech conference as COVID-1 9 cases continue to surge across the United Mood due to the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The Verge reported on Friday that Microsoft would pull out of the annual contest, which was held virtually in 2021 and was planned to take place both in-person in Las Vegas and practically from January 5-8, 2022.

“After reviewing the latest data on the rapidly evolving COVID environment, Microsoft has decided not to participate in-person at CES 2022, ” a company spokesperson told Insider in an emailed statement. The evidence continued to say the company would still be participating remotely in the event through digital exhibitions.

More than 40 major companies, including Google, Intel, Facebook parent company Meta, General Motor, and Amazon, have announced that they would no longer attend January’s forum in person. Each company cited rising COVID-1 9 contingencies as their reason for not attending the conference in person. Microsoft, General Motors, and Google indicated that they would still attend the event in some capability virtually.

“Our focus remains on convening the tech industry and giving those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the occult of CES digitally, ” a representative for the Consumer Technology Association, which articulates on the conference, said in a statement that it also published as a series of tweets on Thursday. More than 2,200 companies were still scheduled to attend the conference in person, according to the CTA.

“Given Ces’ extensive health steps — vaccination requirement, disguising, and accessibility of COVID-1 9 evaluations — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing bars, we have confidence that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and beneficial incident in Las Vegas, or while knowledge it online.”

Microsoft have not replied to Insider’s is asking for comment.

The CES conference, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is an industry showcase that has become a spectacle for new technology since it started more than a half-century ago. Certain innovations like the CD, DVD, Sony camcorder, and Microsoft Xbox have debuted at CES, but the happen is also known for wacky or high-concept abilities, like a robot butler that responds to wine and a pillow that can tell if you’re snore.

Many of these new designs, especially from the consumer tech giants, is likely to be displayed practically this year. As COVID-1 9 examples spread rapidly across the US, many companies have canceled or shelved their January means. Google, Apple, and other big-hearted tech companies have all pushed back their return-to-office years, in a number of cases indefinitely, and the world proceed industry has been interrupted. As of Friday evening, more than 4,000 flights on Christmas eve and Christmas had been canceled due to the Omicron surge.

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