Robots and AI dominate on first day of Las Vegas tech show
Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had important chip and AI platform announcements on the first day of CES 2026, but all audiences wanted to see more of was Star Wars and Jensen Huang’s little robot buddies.
CES is a huge opportunity annually for technology companies to parade products they plan to put on shelves this year.
The biggest buzzword in the air at CES is “physical AI”, Nvidia’s term for AI models that are trained in a virtual environment using computer generated data, then deployed as physical machines once they have mastered their purpose.
Chief executive Jensen Huang showed off Cosmos, an AI foundation model trained on massive datasets, capable of simulating environments governed by actual physics.
He also announced Alpamayo, an AI model specifically designed for autonomous driving.
He revealed that Nvidia’s next generation AI super chip platform, dubbed Vera Rubin, is in full production, and that Nvidia has a new partnership with Siemens.
All of this shows Nvidia is going to fight increased competition to retain its reputation as the backbone of the AI industry.
But once Mr Huang called for two waddling, chirping robots to join him on stage, that is all the audience wanted to see more of.
AMD chief executive Lisa Su announced a new line of its famed Ryzen AI processors as the company continues to expand its footprint in the world of AI-powered personal computers.
For gamers, AMD also showed off the latest version of its gaming-focused processor, the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D.
Meanwhile, Intel announced its new AI chip for laptops, Panther Lake (also known as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3), and said the company has plans to launch a new platform to address a growing market for handheld video gaming machines.
Intel, a Silicon Valley pioneer that enjoyed decades of growth as its processors powered the personal computer boom, fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone. It fell further behind after the AI boom propelled Nvidia into the spotlight.
President Donald Trump’s administration stepped in recently to secure a 10% stake in the company, making the government one of Intel’s biggest shareholders. Federal officials said they invested in Intel to support US technology and domestic manufacturing.
Uber is giving the public a first look at their robotaxi at this CES this week. Uber, along with luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors and vehicle tech company Nuro, introduced an autonomous vehicle with an Uber-designed in-cabin experience.
It features cameras, sensors and radars that provide 360-degree perception and a low-profile roof “halo” with integrated LEDs that will display riders’ initials to help them spot their car and track their ride status.
Inside, riders can personalise everything from climate and seat heating to music, while real-time visuals show exactly what the vehicle is seeing on the road and the route it plans to take.
Autonomous on-road testing began last month in San Francisco, led by Nuro, marking a major step toward what the companies said is a planned launch before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm chief creative officer David Filoni brought out an array of X-Wing pilots, Chewbacca, R2D2 and C-3PO to announce a new partnership with Lego.
The Danish firm announced its Lego Smart Play platform on Monday, which introduces new smart bricks, tags and special minifigs for your collection. The new bricks contain sensors that enable them to sense light and distance, and to provide an array of responses, essentially lights and sounds, when they are used in unison.
Combine this with the newly announced partnership with the Star Wars franchise and now people can create their own interactive space battles and light-saber duels.
Korean tech giant LG gave the media a glimpse on Monday of its humanoid robot that is designed to handle household chores such as folding laundry and fetching food. Although many companies have robots on display at CES, LG is one of the biggest tech companies to promise to put a service robot in homes.
Also on Monday, Lollipop Star unveiled a sweet that plays music while you eat it.
The company says it uses something called “bone induction technology”, which lets you hear songs — like tracks from Ice Spice and Akon — through the lollipop as you lick it or bite it in the back of your mouth, according to spokesperson Cassie Lawrence.
The musical lollipops will go on sale after CES on Lollipop Star’s website for 8.99 dollars each. Akon is expected to visit the company’s booth on Tuesday when CES opens to the public.
Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics publicly demonstrated its humanoid robot Atlas for the first time at the CES tech showcase, ratcheting up a competition with Tesla and other rivals to build robots that look like people and do things that people do.
The company said a version of the robot that will help assemble cars is already in production and will be deployed by 2028 at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia.
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