Invitation to Ivanka Trump draws backlash at big tech show

Ivanka Trump, senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Every year during the second week of January nearly 200,000 people gather in Las Vegas for the tech industry's most-maligned, yet well-attended event: the consumer electronics show. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg

LAS VEGAS: America's largest consumer electronics show on Jan 7 hosted Ivanka Trump as a keynote speaker – a choice that drew scorn from many women in technology.

The annual CES tech gathering in Las Vegas has long taken criticism over diversity issues. In recent years, the show's organiser, the Consumer Technology Association, has invited more women to speak and sought to curb some of the show's more sexist aspects, such as scantily clad "booth babes” hired to draw attention of the mostly male attendees.