CES 2026: Everything revealed from Nvidia’s debut to AMD’s new chips and Razer’s AI quirks | TechCrunch

CES 2026 is in full swing in Las Vegas, with the show floor open to the public after a busy few days filled with press conferences from the likes of Nvidia, Sony and AMD and previews of Sunday’s Unveiled event.

As has been the case for the past two years at CES, AI is at the forefront of many companies’ messaging, though the hardware upgrades and quirks that have long defined the annual event still have their place on the show floor and in adjacent announcements. We’re rounding up the biggest reveals and surprises here, but you can still follow the spontaneous reactions and thoughts of our team on the ground via our live blog here.

Let’s dive right in, starting with some of Monday’s biggest players.

Nvidia unveils AI model for autonomous vehicles and showcases Rubin architecture

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gave an expectedly lengthy presentation at CES, taking a victory lap for the company’s AI-driven successes, paving the way for 2026, and yes, hanging out with some robots.

The Rubin computing architecture, which was developed to meet the increasing computing demands of AI adoption, will replace the Blackwell architecture in the second half of this year. It comes with speed and storage upgrades, but our senior AI editor Russell Brandom gets into the nitty-gritty of what sets Rubin apart.

And Nvidia continued its efforts to bring the AI ​​revolution to the physical world, presenting its Alpamayo family of open source AI models and tools that will be used by autonomous vehicles this year. That approach, as senior reporter Rebecca Bellan notes, reflects the company’s broader efforts to turn its infrastructure into the Android for generalist robots.

AMD’s keynote highlights new processors and partnerships

AMD Chairman and CEO Lisa Su delivered the first keynote of CES, presenting with partners including OpenAI President Greg Brockman, AI legend Fei-Fei Li, Luma AI CEO Amit Jain and more.

In addition to the partner demonstrations, senior reporter Rebecca Szkutak detailed AMD’s approach to expanding the reach of AI through personal computers using the Ryzen AI 400 Series processors.

The notable quirks of CES

Let’s face it: at this point in the show, the major announcements have been made, products have been showcased, and it’s time to take a look at some of CES’ most eyebrow-raising reveals. We started our list of what struck us as strange and notable, but we’re open to more suggestions!

Highlights from CES breakout sessions

CES isn’t just hardware showcases and trade show attractions; there are plenty of additional industrial panels and speakers to draw attention. We kept an eye on a few notable highlights, ranging from Palmer Luckey pushing retro aesthetics, to why the era of “learn once, work forever” 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 $25,000 bounty on an authentic Theranos 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 built in-house using off-the-shelf LLMs. However, as we noted in our coverage of the news, few details were given about what drivers can expect from their experience with the assistant.

Caterpillar, Nvidia partner in the field of 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, “Cat AI Assistant,” which was demonstrated at CES on Wednesday. This system, which is coming to one of Caterpillar’s excavators, is happening alongside another project to use Nvidia’s Omniverse simulation resources to aid in the planning and execution of construction projects.

Hands-on with Clicks Communicator

One of the show’s most talked-about reveals 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 test, the phone felt good in the hand — not too heavy or light, and was easy to hold. Gadway told me that the company arrived at the final shape of the device 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 relative to the body, and the chin is curved upwards to create a recess that protects the keys when you place it face down.”

View the Skylight Calendar 2

This family planning tool caught our attention on the show floor not only for its calendar and scheduling capabilities, but also for its AI capabilities that can sync calendars from different sources, create new tasks from messages or photos, appointment reminders, and more. Check out 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 that they are working with Google’s AI research lab rather than competitors to train and operate existing Atlas robots, as well as a new version of the humanoid robot shown on stage. Transport editor Kirsten Korosec has the full overview.

Amazon’s AI-focused update with Alexa+ is getting the kind of momentum you’d expect at CES, as the company launches Alexa.com for Early Access customers who want to use the chatbot through their browser, along with a similar revamped bot-focused app. Consumer editor Sarah Perez has the details, along with news about Amazon’s renewal to Fire TV and new Artline TVs, which have their own Alexa+ push.

On the Ring front, consumer reporter Ivan Mehta goes through the many announcements, from fire warnings to an app store for third-party camera integration, and more.

Razer joins the AI ​​flood with Project AVA and Motoko

In the past, Razer at CES has been all about ridiculous hardware, from triple-screen laptops to haptic gaming cushions to a mask that earned the company a federal fine. This year, the two standout announcements were for Project Motoko, which aims to function similarly to smart glasses, but without the glasses.

Then there’s Project AVA, which puts the avatar of an AI companion on your desk. We’ll let you watch the concept video for yourself.

Lego Smart Bricks mark the company’s first appearance at CES

Lego joined CES for the first time to hold a behind-closed-doors showcase of its Smart Play System, featuring 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.