CES 2026, which opens in Las Vegas in the first week of January, is shaping up as a show about machines that act in the physical world rather than screens that display it. Announcements made ahead of the event point to humanoid and home robots, AI that runs on the device instead of in the cloud, and the chips and sensors that make both possible.
Here is what the major exhibitors have confirmed so far.
Hyundai and Boston Dynamics bring the new Atlas
Hyundai Motor Group says it will present its AI robotics strategy at a media day on January 5, covering human-robot collaboration, manufacturing innovation and the integration of robots into production and logistics. The plan ties into Hyundai’s software-defined factory concept, in which robots are trained, updated and deployed through a single managed system.
The centerpiece will be the first public showing of the next-generation Atlas humanoid from Boston Dynamics, the robotics company Hyundai acquired in 2021. Hyundai says the all-electric Atlas will appear alongside live demonstrations of the Spot quadruped and the MobED mobile platform, presented in scenarios drawn from industrial and research settings. Boston Dynamics has so far shown the new Atlas only in videos, so the live demonstration will be a first test of the robot in front of an audience.
LG’s two-armed home robot
LG Electronics will show LG CLOiD, a home robot with two arms, multiple joints and a wheeled base. According to LG, the robot connects to household appliances through its ThinQ smart home platform and is intended to handle basic domestic tasks such as moving objects and operating appliances. LG frames the product as part of a “Zero Labor Home” concept and says it runs on the company’s “affectionate intelligence” software layer, which is meant to interpret context rather than only respond to commands. CLOiD has been named a CES 2026 Innovation Awards honoree.
Samsung’s connected kitchen and Micro RGB displays
Samsung is expected to expand its AI home lineup, including a Bespoke refrigerator that adds Google Gemini integration for the first time, with features for recognizing food items and tracking inventory. Samsung has also been building out its Micro RGB television range, which emphasizes refresh rates up to 240Hz and color control for gaming and professional use. The Korea Herald reports that Korean manufacturers are using the show to move AI from software into physical products.
Nvidia, Intel and AMD on the compute side
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is scheduled to deliver a keynote on January 5. Nvidia has spent much of 2025 promoting what it calls physical AI, meaning models that control robots and autonomous machines, along with the simulation tools used to train them, and the keynote is expected to continue that theme.
Intel is expected to show its Panther Lake processors, built on its 18A manufacturing process, and AMD its next AI PC platforms. Both companies are positioning their chips for on-device inference, in which AI models run locally on laptops and other devices rather than in a data center. Lenovo and its Motorola unit are expected to show new devices, including foldable phones.
What to watch
CES has a long record of robots that impress on stage and never ship, so the useful test this year is whether exhibitors can show products with prices, dates and real-world deployments. Hyundai’s emphasis on factory use, LG’s appliance integration and the spread of on-device AI chips suggest that at least some of the robotics and physical AI on display is closer to market than in previous years.
