CES 2026 has officially wrapped up, and the narrative has shifted from "AI as a chatbot" to "Physical AI"—intelligence that actually moves, interacts, and performs manual labor in the real world.
Here is a roundup of the biggest highlights and trends from the show floor in Las Vegas.
🤖 The Rise of "Physical AI" & Robotics
The era of "zero-labor homes" was the talk of the show. We moved past simple vacuums to robots that handle complex domestic chores.
LG CLOiD: A wheeled humanoid designed to manage the "Zero Labor Home." LG demonstrated it fetching milk from the fridge, loading the oven, and even folding laundry.
Roborock Saros Rover: The "wheel-leg" robot vacuum that literally climbs stairs. It uses a specialized architecture to lift its body and clean each step individually.
SwitchBot onero H1: A two-armed household robot designed to wash dishes, organize shoes, and do laundry.
Humanoid Workers: Beyond the home, Nvidia’s "Cosmos" foundation model was unveiled to help train robots in physics-based virtual environments before they are deployed to real-world factories.
🚗 Mobility: Software-Defined & Luxurious
The automotive section focused on cars becoming "mobile offices" and the resurgence of autonomous transit.
Uber’s Robotaxi: Uber, Lucid, and Nuro debuted a luxury robotaxi with an "in-cabin experience" that allows riders to personalize climate and music via an Uber-designed interface.
Mercedes-Benz CLA: Confirmed to feature the MB.OS (Mercedes-Benz Operating System) powered by Nvidia, enabling Level 2 autonomous driving in complex urban environments.
BMW Neue Klasse: Showcased as a premier "Software-Defined Vehicle" (SDV) platform, where the car's features are updated over the air like a smartphone.
Air Taxis: Joby Aviation announced plans to launch its first commercial air taxi service in Dubai later this year, with manufacturing expanding in Ohio.
📺 Home Entertainment: Brighter & Bolder
TVs at CES are always a staple, but 2026 saw a major shift in backlight technology.
Micro RGB LED: Samsung and LG both unveiled massive lineups using red, green, and blue LED clusters (instead of white LEDs). Samsung’s range now spans from 55 to a staggering 115 inches.
Hisense 116UXS: Introduced the industry’s first "Sky Blue–Cyan" fourth LED in its backlight system for even higher color fidelity.
Google TV + Gemini: Google announced that Google TV will now include Gemini-powered features like "Dive Deeper" (AI-generated movie insights) and the ability to create AI-generated art and videos directly on your screen.
💻 Computing & Chips
The "AI PC" is no longer a niche; it's the standard.
NVIDIA Vera Rubin: The next-generation AI superchip platform is officially in production, cementing NVIDIA's lead in the AI infrastructure space.
AMD Ryzen AI 300 & 9850X3D: AMD announced new chips focused on local AI processing and gaming, including the "Ryzen AI Halo" for developers.
Intel Panther Lake: The "Core Ultra Series 3" was unveiled, built on the Intel 18A process, aiming to regain ground in the AI laptop market.
ThinkPad Rollable XD: Lenovo stole the show with a concept laptop featuring a flexible display that wraps around the device.
🕶️ Wearables & Personal Tech
Smart Glasses Avalanche: Meta’s Ray-Ban success has triggered everyone else. XREAL 1S (entry-level AR) and Lenovo Qira AI glasses were major highlights.
The "Robot Phone": Honor showcased a concept phone with a retracting gimbaled camera arm that can track subjects 360 degrees.
Pebble Round 2: In a nostalgic twist, the Pebble brand returned with a $199 circular e-paper smartwatch running open-source software.
Note on Industry Policy: A notable "under-the-radar" story was the return of FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who discussed new regulatory frameworks for AI and data security that will likely impact these gadgets by the end of 2026.