The United States wants to explain the connection between customer generation and national security threats.

China’s tech experts are clamoring for the U. S. market.

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

A messy, ongoing tech breakup between the US and China is forcing a rethink about what the industry might look like for consumers in a decoupled world. On Monday, the Pentagon blacklisted internet and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. for alleged links to the People’s Liberation Army. On Friday, TikTok will make its final arguments to the US Supreme Court as it faces an unprecedented ban due to national security concerns.

The news received attendees this week in one of the greatest extravagances in the industry in Las Vegas, where corporations meet to exhibit their dreams of a long technical career full of laundry folding robots, flying cars and other idealistic visions. Tensions, more than 1,200 Chinese corporations on the CES screen compete to enter the US market, the largest foreign representation and more than a quarter of the 4,500 exhibitors.