CES 2026 is winding down in Las Vegas as the consumer technology industry and everyone who swarms around it begin their return flights home. Over the past few days, we’ve seen a number of announcements from mainstays like Nvidia, Sony, and AMD, along with smaller companies and startups vying for attention through the Unveiled event (CES’s showcase for new products) and across the show floor.
As has been the case for the past two years, AI was at the forefront of many companies’ announcements, although the hardware upgrades and oddities that have long defined the annual event still have their place on the show floor and in adjacent announcements. This year, physical AI was particularly prominent, taking the place that agent AI held last year as the hot topic of the show. This focus on physical AI came alongside a heavy focus on robotics, with robots being demonstrated throughout the show and featured in several press events.
To relive the reactions and thoughts of our team on the ground, you can go back in time via our live blog right here. Otherwise, let’s dive into some of the biggest and most notable announcements from CES.
Equity recaps the highs and lows of CES 2026
If audio or video is more your thing, head straight to the latest episode of our Equity podcast, which goes into detail about what we thought of the show, or watch the full episode below on YouTube.
Nvidia unveils AI model for autonomous vehicles, shows Rubin architecture
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivered an expectedly lengthy presentation at CES, taking a victory lap for the company’s AI-driven successes, setting the stage for 2026, and yes, hang out with some robots.
The Rubin computing architecture, developed to meet the increasing computational demands created by AI adoption, is set to begin replacing the Blackwell architecture in the second half of this year. It comes with speed and storage upgrades, but our senior AI editor Russell Brandom goes into the nitty-gritty of what makes Rubin stand out.
And Nvidia continued its push to bring the AI revolution into the physical world, showcasing its Alpamayo family of open source AI models and tools that will be used by autonomous vehicles this year. The approach, senior reporter Rebecca Bellan notes, reflects the company’s broader efforts to make its infrastructure the Android of generalist bots.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
13.-15. October 2026
AMD’s keynote highlights new processors and partnerships
AMD Chairman and CEO Lisa Su delivered the first keynote of CES with a presentation that featured partners including OpenAI President Greg Brockman, AI legend Fei-Fei Li, Luma AI Head Amit Jain and more.
In addition to the partner showcases, senior reporter Rebecca Szkutak described AMD’s approach to expanding the reach of AI through personal computing using the Ryzen AI 400 series processors.
The glaring oddities of CES
Let’s face it, at this point in the show, the big announcements have been made, products have been showcased, and it’s time to see some of the most eye-popping reveals from CES. We started our list with what stood out to us as weird and noteworthy, but we’re open to more suggestions!
Highlights from CES breakout sessions
CES isn’t all hardware showcases and show-floor attractions—there are plenty of additional eye-catching industry panels and speakers. We caught a few notable highlights, from Palmer Luckey pushing the retro aesthetic to why the “learn once, work forever” era may be over, to previews of the new Silicon Valley-based series “The Audacity” to the expansion of Roku’s $3 streaming service, to All-In host Jason Calacanis putting a 00enos on a device.
Ford’s AI assistant debuts
Ford is launching its Assistant in the company’s app ahead of a targeted 2027 release in its vehicles, with hosting managed by Google Cloud and the Assistant itself built using off-the-shelf LLMs. As we noted in our coverage of the news, however, few details were offered about what drivers should expect from their experience with the assistant.
Caterpillar, Nvidia partner on automated construction equipment
As part of the ever-present push for AI’s impact on the physical world, Caterpillar and Nvidia announced a pilot program, the “Cat AI Assistant,” which was demonstrated at CES on Wednesday. This system, coming to one of Caterpillar’s excavator vehicles, is happening alongside another project to use Nvidia’s Omniverse simulation resources to help plan and execute construction projects.
Practical with Clicks Communicator
One of the liveliest reveals of the show is Clicks Technology’s debut phone, the $499 Communicator, which brings back BlackBerry vibes with its physical keyboard, plus a separate $79 slide-out physical keyboard that can be used with other devices.
See our full overview from the show floor here, but the Communicator makes a good first impression, according to consumer editor Sarah Perez:
“In our hands-on testing, the phone felt good to hold—not too heavy or light, and it was easy to grip. Gadway told me the company settled on the device’s final shape after dozens of 3D-printed molds. The winning design for the phone has a contoured back that makes it easy to pick up and hold.
“The device’s screen is also slightly raised from the body, and its chin is curved up to create an indentation that protects the keys when you place it face down.”
LG’s home robot CLOiD makes a sluggish first impression
A large part of LG’s CES presentation was dedicated to its robotics efforts, with home robot CLOiD as a prominent figurehead. And how did the robot fare once it was off the press conference stage and out into the wild? We’ll let senior writer Lucas Ropek’s impressions speak for themselves:
“Unfortunately, at the presentation I saw, CLOid didn’t do a whole lot. I saw the bot very carefully take a shirt out of a basket and place it in a dryer. I also saw it pick up a croissant and (again, very carefully) place it in an oven. Besides the live performance from the bot, the presentation was interspersed with the bot in a very useful scenario where it could prove to be useful videos. users.”
EufyMake UV Printer is an Etsy maker’s dream
Long used in industrial settings, UV printers that can print ink directly onto objects have been prohibitively expensive for individuals to own. But the eufyMake E1 is set to launch for $2,299 later this year, making bulk printing on things like mugs, water bottles and phone cases a bit more attainable for individuals. Lucas Ropek has more firsthand impressions here.
A new way to find and buy office space
MyCommuters has a new take on creating office space by helping businesses find locations that benefit them and their employees. The platform aggregates various data sets to examine commute time, expenses and other factors to identify an ideal location for an office, not just the easiest thing to see on the market. Sean O’Kane has several reports on the idea that led founder Guillaume Acier to start the company here.
Check the skylight calendar 2
This family planning tool caught our eye on the show floor not only for its calendar and scheduling capabilities, but for its AI capabilities that are able to sync calendars from different sources; create new tasks based on messages or photos, appointment reminders; and more. See our full impressions here.
Boston Dynamics and Google collaborate on Atlas robots
Hyundai’s press conference focused on its robotics partnerships with Boston Dynamics, but the companies revealed they are working with Google’s AI research lab instead of competitors to train and operate existing Atlas robots, as well as a new iteration of the humanoid robot shown on stage. Transport editor Kirsten Korosec has the full overview.
Amazon’s AI-centric update with Alexa+ is getting the kind of push you’d expect at CES, where the company is launching Alexa.com for Early Access customers who want to use the chatbot through their browsers, along with a similar revamped bot-focused app. Consumer editor Sarah Perez has the details, along with news about Amazon’s revamp to Fire TV and new Artline TVs, which have their own Alexa+ push.
On the Ring front, consumer reporter Ivan Mehta runs through the many announcements, from fire alarms to an app store to third-party camera integration and more.
Razer joins the AI flood with Project AVA and Motoko
In the past, Razer has been all about ridiculous hardware at CES, from triple-screen laptops to haptic gaming pads to a mask that landed the company with a federal fine. This year, its two attention-grabbing announcements were for Project Motoko, which aims to function similarly to smart glasses, but without glasses.
Then there’s Project AVA, which puts an AI companion avatar on your desktop. We’ll let you see the concept video for yourself.
Lego Smart Bricks marks the company’s first CES appearance
Lego joined CES for the first time to hold a behind-closed-doors showcase of its Smart Play System, which includes bricks, tiles and minifigures that can all interact with each other and play sounds, with both debut sets having a Star Wars theme. Senior writer Amanda Silberling has all the details here.