The first day of CES 2026 in Las Vegas underscored how deeply artificial intelligence is now embedded across the technology industry, with Nvidia, AMD and Intel all unveiling new chips and platforms, while companies such as Uber, Hyundai and Lego showed off products that bring intelligent systems into cars, homes and playrooms. The Consumer Electronics Show remains a major launchpad for products that companies aim to ship within the year, and artificial intelligence featured prominently in everything from semiconductor roadmaps to children’s toys and experimental candy.
Nvidia framed the show’s dominant theme around what it called “physical artificial intelligence,” describing models trained in virtual environments on computer generated synthetic data before being deployed into the real world as physical machines. Chief executive Jensen Huang introduced Cosmos, described as an artificial intelligence foundation model trained on massive datasets that can simulate environments governed by real world physics, alongside Alpamayo, a model tailored for autonomous driving. Huang also said Nvidia’s next generation artificial intelligence superchip platform, named Vera Rubin, is in “full production” and highlighted a new partnership with Siemens, reinforcing Nvidia’s efforts to defend its position as the backbone of the artificial intelligence industry, even as the audience’s attention shifted to two small chirping robots that joined him on stage.
AMD chief executive Lisa Su used her keynote to announce a new line of Ryzen artificial intelligence processors as the company chases a larger role in artificial intelligence powered personal computers, and also showed the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D for gamers. Intel introduced its Panther Lake laptop artificial intelligence chip, also known as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3, and disclosed plans for a new platform aimed at handheld video gaming machines, while noting the company’s struggles after missing the mobile shift and the artificial intelligence boom that lifted Nvidia, as well as the recent move by President Donald Trump’s administration to secure a 10% stake in Intel to bolster United States technology and manufacturing. In mobility, Uber, Lucid Motors and Nuro took the wraps off a robotaxi that the companies call the most luxurious yet, featuring cameras, sensors and radars for 360-degree perception, a roof halo with LEDs that display riders’ initials, and a customizable cabin, with autonomous on road testing that began last month in San Francisco and a planned launch before the end of the year.
Beyond transportation and chips, Lego detailed its Lego Smart Play platform, which adds smart bricks with sensors that detect light and distance and trigger coordinated lights and sounds, as well as new tags and special minifigures, a system that gains extra appeal through a new partnership with the Star Wars franchise to enable interactive space battles and lightsaber duels. LG previewed a humanoid home robot intended to handle domestic tasks such as folding laundry and fetching food, one of the most prominent commitments from a major electronics brand to place a service robot in homes. Hyundai owned Boston Dynamics gave a public demonstration of its Atlas humanoid robot for the first time at CES, saying a version built for car assembly is already in production and will be deployed by 2028 at Hyundai’s electric vehicle factory near Savannah, Georgia. More experimental fare included Lollipop Star’s “music you can taste,” a candy that uses bone induction technology so that tracks from artists such as Ice Spice and Akon can be heard through the lollipop as it is licked or bitten, with musical lollipops set to go on sale on the company’s website for $8.99 each as the broader CES program runs from Jan. 6 to 9.
