CES 2026 showed not individual gadgets, but ecosystems. Agentic AI that thinks along. Humanoid robots that climb stairs. Cars that learn new functions via software update. And PCs whose displays unroll at the press of a button. The show made clear: technology is becoming ambient, proactive and invisible – until you need it.
Anyone visiting CES 2026 in Las Vegas saw less individual products than visions of ecosystems. Not the next smartphone, but the next layer between human and digital world. Not the fastest chip, but the most intelligent architecture. Not the loudest feature, but the most invisible system. The show’s leitmotif was clear: technology is becoming ambient, proactive and personal. It no longer waits for commands, it anticipates needs. It no longer lives in individual devices, but flows between them. And it’s no longer operated, but accompanies.
Agentic and Ambient AI: The Invisible Layer
Siemens showed with the Digital Twin Composer a platform that combines digital twins with NVIDIA Omniverse and real-time engineering data to simulate facilities, products and processes across time, weather and changes in 3D. That sounds like Industry 4.0, but it’s more: it’s the idea that physical systems have digital twins that run permanently alongside, playing through scenarios and suggesting optimisations before problems arise. The factory becomes a learning organism.
Lenovo introduced Qira, a hybrid “Personal Ambient Intelligence” that works across devices using on-device and cloud models. PCMag crowned Qira the “Best AI” product of the show. The idea: an AI system that doesn’t live in one device but across all of them – laptop, smartphone, wearable, car. It learns preferences, anticipates needs, suggests before you ask. It’s not Siri, not Alexa, not Google Assistant. It’s a layer that sits over everything and understands what you’re doing now, what you might do next and what you need for it.
Wearables like the Looki L1 position themselves as “proactive AI wearable” that anticipates user needs and acts as a “second brain” permanently recording. It listens, watches along, remembers. That’s the pattern for always-on agents: systems that don’t wait until you activate them, but are always there, always thinking along, always ready. The question is no longer whether you want this, but whether you’re prepared to trade privacy for it.
Humanoids and Everyday Robots: From Demo to Function
Humanoids and other robotic forms dominated the halls. Demos ranged from ping-pong-playing robots to systems demonstrating martial arts or dispensing cotton candy and ice cream. That sounds like show, but behind it lies progress: robots that master complex movements, that interact with people, that function in unstructured environments. Cyber-pets like OLLOBOT rely on simulated emotional intelligence and learning AI that carries faces and behavioural patterns across generations. The pet becomes digital, but it learns, it remembers, it reacts.
In the home, manufacturers go beyond vacuum cleaners. Robots like the Saros Rover demonstrate autonomous mastery of stairs and complex floor plans. That’s the difference between a robot that functions on flat surfaces and one that understands real houses – with steps, tight corners, changing surfaces. The technology is becoming everyday-capable, not just trade-show-ready.
Software-Defined PC and Hardware: The Display Unrolls
PC manufacturers focus less on pure specs, more on AI workloads and modular designs. CES reports on 2026 desktops emphasise inconspicuous but profound architectural changes for AI acceleration. It’s no longer about gigahertz, but about TOPS – tera operations per second, the unit of measurement for AI inference. The PC becomes an AI machine.
Lenovo showed with the ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept a notebook with rollable display that expands at the press of a button from 13.3 inches to up to 16 inches – ideal for coding, multitasking and creative workflows. This isn’t gimmickry, but functionality: a device that’s compact when you’re on the move and large when you’re working. The “Aura Edition” ThinkPads and new X1 generations are clearly designed around AI assistants and on-device inference and are celebrated by specialist media as the flagship for business laptops in 2026. The laptop becomes an AI partner, not just a tool.
Automotive: The Car Becomes a Platform
BMW presented new software-defined vehicle concepts based on the Neue Klasse SDV platform, where functions are loaded via software update and AI functions via central compute platforms. The car is no longer bought finished, but grows with you. New features come via update, new capabilities via download. The vehicle becomes a platform.
Microsoft, NVIDIA and Bosch showed an AI cockpit as “AI Extension Platform” that with a Drive Orin SoC extends existing vehicle hardware with edge AI for cockpit functions and turns the car into a “mobile office”. The cockpit understands what you say, what you mean, what you need. It suggests routes, adjusts climate, organises appointments whilst you drive. OEMs are shifting their investments to harmonise EV, hybrid and even ICE in the same software-defined stack, including ADAS, autonomy and digital cockpit. The car is no longer categorised by drivetrain, but by software capabilities.
Consumer Gadgets and Wireless Power
Media curated “Best in Show” lists highlighting amongst others the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition as laptop, the HP EliteBoard G1a as desktop, as well as rollable Legion gaming concepts. Start-ups like Willo demonstrated “alignment-free” wireless power transmission that’s meant to charge multiple devices simultaneously regardless of position and was awarded “Best Energy Tech”. No more cables, no alignment, simply place down and charge. That’s been the dream for years, and in 2026 it’s getting closer.
A French start-up called Allergen Alert showed a portable AI-powered device meant to test food samples for allergens in seconds, with planned commercialisation from the second half of the year. This isn’t gadget, but health. For people with allergies this is life-changing – the ability to know on the spot, in seconds, whether a dish is safe.
What Remains
CES 2026 wasn’t the show of individual breakthroughs, but of ecosystems. Not the one product that changes everything, but many products that together form a new layer. Agentic AI that thinks across devices. Robots that are no longer just demos, but function. Cars that grow via software. PCs that physically adapt to needs. And everywhere the idea that technology becomes invisible until you need it.
That’s ambient intelligence: systems that are there without standing out. That think along without disturbing. That help without annoying. The question is no longer whether we want this, but how we handle it. Because when technology becomes personal, responsibility also becomes personal. Who controls the data? Who decides what’s anticipated? Who draws the line between helpful and intrusive?
CES 2026 showed where the journey’s heading. The machines are becoming personal. Now we must decide how personal we let them become.
Post Picture: Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®
