Las Vegas restaurant Rachel's Kitchen uses AI assistant Ryan for phone orders, showing how businesses can integrate technology to support rather than replace employees.

Las Vegas

At the CES convention, experts discussed the gradual integration of AI into the workforce, emphasizing that its adoption is not as rapid as some anticipate. Rachel's Kitchen in Las Vegas has introduced an AI assistant called Ryan to manage phone orders, helping employees focus on other tasks and improving the overall customer experience.

Owner Kent Asaki noted that about half of the restaurant's phone orders are now handled by Ryan, with most customers responding positively to the technology. The system also accommodates those who prefer human interaction by transferring their calls, and there are plans to expand AI use beyond phone orders to other digital platforms.

Restaurant shows how AI can enhance jobs instead of replacing them

AI dominated this year's CES convention. AI technologies. Peter Jerich, head of GSMA Intelligence, has his thumb on the pulse of the mobile ecosystem and how AI is transforming connectivity. Don't get scared. It's probably not coming as quick as you think. Big distance between sort of a video that shows something to being productized or being out there in the real world at scale. But even with that in mind, I hear it. A lot of people are worried AI will eventually replace them. To your point, there is this feeling of sort of combating it. But in many ways, there's opportunities to figure out how it augments what you do, how it makes you better at what you do, how it makes you more efficient, how it maybe opens up new opportunities. Rachel's Kitchen at the Trails is one local business using AI to help its employees. Here, it's called Ryan, and he helps take your order. Now, because I call a lot, he knows me pretty well. Hi, Justin. Thanks for calling Rachel's Kitchen at the Trails. I see that last time you placed an order of one Chinese chicken salad. Would you like to reorder this? Yes, please. What can I say? I'm definitely a creature of habit. Right, so you've got one Chinese chicken salad. Would you like to make any modifications to this order? No, I'm good. Fast forward past a couple more confirmations. Your order has been placed. It'll be ready in 16 minutes, and your total is $17.07. A confirmation text has been sent to you. Thanks for your order. Thank you. Then, the text. All I have to do now is just go and pick it up. Being able to have Ryan, our digital dining assistant, alleviate some of that stress and workload for our employees gives our team members the opportunity to better serve our customers. Kent Asaki, the owner of this location and chief development officer at the brand level, says that means orders customized exactly how you like, and a familiar voice each time you call. He says, right now, phone orders make up about 5% of business, with about half of those customers using Ryan. To be fair, there's maybe 10 or 15% of customers that just don't want to talk to AI for whatever reason. And for those folks, when they are greeted by Ryan, it will just transfer the call. So that's very easily done. And then for the other 85 to 90% of the folks, they're just giving us a thumbs up. And for where it's going in the future, Asaki says, beyond phone orders. Really, anywhere you can access the internet. So just keeping pace is probably the biggest challenge and making sure that everything is keeping up with the times. A constant balancing act to provide a great customer experience where the business and its employees can benefit from ever evolving technology.

Britain will bring into effect a law criminalizing the creation of non-consensual intimate images this week, technology minister Liz Kendall told parliament after regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X.

London

UK investigates Musk's X over Grok sexual deepfakes

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, amid concerns that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

Malaysia and Indonesia block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on a two-day visit. Merz is traveling with a large business delegation as Germany seeks to deepen economic and security ties.

New Delhi

Germany's Merz makes first official visit to India

Authorities arrested a suspect after a fire badly damaged the largest synagogue in Mississippi. Investigators say the fire pattern and video surveillance point to arson.

Jackson

Suspect arrested in alleged arson attack at Mississippi synagogue

Fallout from the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. immigration and customs enforcement officer in Minneapolis continues with government officials standing by the action and ordering more ICE officers into the city.

Minneapolis

Hundreds more ICE agents headed to Minneapolis after fatal shooting

Powell said the investigation, linked to a testimony he gave to a Senate committee about renovations to Fed buildings, was an attempt to limit central bank independence.

Washington

U.S. opens criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell

Protests continue in Iran amid a violent government crackdown. Activists say hundreds of demonstrators have been killed. President Trump says Iran now wants to negotiate to prevent a U.S. military response.

Trump says Iran 'wants to negotiate' as protests intensify

President Trump says Iranian leaders have reached out to the U.S. to negotiate, as massive protests continue and more deaths are reported by activists.

Trump weighs military option in Iran amid rising death toll

President Trump has been briefed on new military options for a strike against Iran amid widespread protests and a government crackdown on communications for Iranians, a senior U.S. official tells CBS News. "We'll be hitting them very hard where it hurts," he said at the White House.

Trump briefed on new military options for Iran strikes amid protests

Demonstrations in Iran are now entering their third week and the death toll is surging with hundreds killed, according to a human rights group. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted that the Islamic regime will "not back down" in the face of the growing social unrest and calls for regime change.

Tehran

Protests in Iran intensifying despite threat of death for dissidents

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showcased a wide array of AI-powered innovations, including paper-thin televisions, interactive Lego, and binoculars that can identify bird species in real time. Notable breakthroughs included .Lumen's AI glasses for the visually impaired and Roborock's Saros Rover, a robotic vacuum cleaner capable of navigating stairs and various surfaces autonomously.

Rise of AI

AI-powered innovation dominates Consumer Electronics show

Human remains were found in Australia's southeast where bushfires raging for days have razed buildings, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swaths of bushland, police said. The blazes are burning out of control during a summer heat wave in Victoria state.

Victoria

'Gut-wrenching': Australian bushfires expected to burn for weeks

Anti-government protests in Iran show no sign of stopping. Human rights groups are putting the death toll at 116 with 2600 detained. U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed U.S. support for the protesters.

Protests in Iran defy government crackdown

Iran's army is threatening to join the crackdown on protesters as demonstrations against the regime grow and the death toll mounts. Huge crowds have taken to the streets across the Islamic Republic. Iran's Revolutionary Guard calls them "terrorists." Haley Ott has more details.

Iran's army threatens to join crackdown against protesters

President Trump said, "We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not," earlier this week. But Greenland, a territory of Denmark and a NATO ally, is rejecting the threats.

Nuuk

Greenland rejects Trump's threats

Trump, who often cites national security interests as the reason for taking Greenland, said that if the US does not do something, 'Russia or China will take over Greenland'.

Trump says U.S will act on Greenland, 'whether they like it or not'

Protests across the U.S., including in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Miami, are taking place following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Police declared the demonstrations in downtown Minneapolis an 'unlawful assembly'.

Philadelphia

Protests spread across the U.S. over ICE shooting of woman

Internet and phone lines in Iran have been cut off as anti-government protests enter their second week. Reports say at least 65 people have been killed and more than 2,300 others detained. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of a possible U.S. response to the government crackdown.

Internet blackout in Iran enters second day as protests intensify

Rescue workers are trying to find dozens of people trapped under a collapsed landfill in the Philippines. At least four people have been confirmed dead. The incident took place on Thursday, with more than 100 workers on site at the time.

Cebu City

Philippines: Dozens still missing in landfill collapse

BRICS nations have launched joint naval exercises off the South African coast. Supporters say the drills will strengthen co-operation among emerging economies.  But critics warn they could deepen global divisions.

Simon's Town

South Africa hosts Russia, Iran and China for military exercise

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Saturday that safeguarding security was a "red line" and the military vowed to protect public property, as the clerical establishment stepped up efforts to quell the most widespread protests in years.

Iran authorities signal intensified crackdown as unrest grows

Luigi Mangione was back in court on Friday, where his lawyers worked to block the Justice Department from seeking the death penalty in his federal trial for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione pleaded not guilty in April 2025.

New York

Luigi Mangione's lawyers fight to block death penalty

Fire crews battle spreading blazes while communities face evacuations and power cuts.

Thousands of firefighters deployed to fight bushfires in Australia

The protest comes amid wider rallies against US immigration enforcement and over the fatal shooting of the 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

Several arrested in Minneapolis during anti-ICE protest

Trump says U.S. will act on Greenland, 'whether they like it or not'

U.S. President Donald Trump began a meeting to discuss Venezuela with executives from some of the world's largest oil companies at the White House, saying he wants them to invest $100 billion in the country to vastly expand its production.

Venezuela Strikes

Trump urges U.S. oil giants to repair Venezuela's energy industry

The U.S. seized another oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command confirmed on Friday (January 9). The seizure of the vessel comes as President Donald Trump prepares to meet with oil company executives at the White House.

U.S. seizes fifth tanker linked to Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump is reiterating his threats against Iran's regime if violence and deaths continue during protests. CBS News' Imtiaz Tyab has more.

Trump: U.S. to hit Iran 'very hard' if violence continues at protests

Russia fired a powerful hypersonic missile overnight at a target in Ukraine near the border with NATO-member Poland, in what Kyiv's European allies described as an attempt to intimidate them from supporting Ukraine.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russia fires hypersonic missile at Ukraine target near NATO border

A majority of European Union countries have agreed to sign a trade deal with the South American trading bloc, Mercosur. It'll be the EU's biggest free-trade pact and comes after decades of negotiations.

Breakdown