The most interesting technology we saw on the first day of CES

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sure, Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had important chip and AI platform announcements on the first day of CES 2026, but all the audience wanted to see were Star Wars and Jensen Huang’s little robot friends.

CES is a big opportunity every year for companies both big and small to parade products they plan to put on shelves this year. And, as predicted, artificial intelligence was anchored in almost everything as tech firms continued to look for AI products that would attract customers.

While AP has been on the ground checking out the booths and covering the big announcements, here’s a roundup of the highlights we saw on day one of CES.

Nvidia becomes physical

The biggest buzzword in the air at CES is “physical AI,” Nvidia’s term for AI models that are trained using computer-generated, “synthetic” data in a virtual environment, then used as physical machines once they’ve achieved their objective.

CEO Jensen Huang showed Cosmos, an AI foundation model trained on massive datasets capable of simulating an environment governed by real physics. He also announced Alpamayo, an AI model designed specifically for autonomous driving. Huang revealed that Nvidia’s next-generation AI superchip platform, dubbed Vera Rubin, is in full production and that Nvidia has a new partnership with Siemens. All of this suggests that Nvidia is fighting growing competition to maintain its reputation as the backbone of the AI ​​industry.

But once Huang summoned two tiny, roving, chirping robots to join him on stage, the audience wanted to see more.

The chips are back in town

AMD CEO Lisa Xu announced a new line of its famous Ryzen AI processors as the company continues to expand its footprint in the world of AI-powered personal computers.

For gamers, AMD also showed off the latest version of its gaming-focused processor, the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D.

Meanwhile, Intel announced its new AI chip for laptops, Panther Lake (also known as Intel Core Ultra Series 3), and said the company plans to launch a new platform to address the growing market for handheld video gaming machines.

Intel, a Silicon Valley pioneer that enjoyed decades of growth as its processors powered the personal computer boom, slumped after failing to transition into the mobile computing era ushered in by the iPhone. After the AI ​​boom catapulted Nvidia into the spotlight, it fell further behind.

President Donald Trump’s administration recently moved to secure a 10% stake in the company, making the government one of Intel’s largest shareholders. Federal officials said they invested in Intel to support American technology and domestic manufacturing.

Uber dives back into the robottaxi game

Uber is debuting its robot taxi this week at CES. Uber, along with luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors and vehicle tech company Nuro, introduced an autonomous vehicle with an Uber-designed in-cabin experience.

Uber calls it the most luxurious robot taxi ever. It has cameras, sensors and radars that provide 360-degree perception and a low-profile roof “halo” with integrated LEDs that will display initials to help riders locate their car and track their vehicle position. Inside, riders can personalize everything from climate and seat heating to music, while real-time visuals show what the vehicle is seeing on the road and what route it plans to take.

Autonomous on-road testing began in San Francisco last month, led by Nuro, marking a major step toward what the companies plan is a planned launch before the end of the year.

Star Wars and Lego have announced a new partnership

When Lucasfilm chief creative officer David Filoni brought in an array of X-Wing pilots, Chewbacca, R2D2 and C-3PO, he won Star Wars fandom for Lego.

Lego on Monday announced its LEGO Smart Play platform, which introduces new smart bricks, tags and special minifigs for your collection. The new bricks have sensors that enable them to sense light and distance, and to provide an array of responses, essentially lights and sounds, when they are used in unison.

Combine this with the newly announced partnership with the Star Wars franchise and now you can create your own interactive space battles and light-saber duels.

LG reveals a new robot to help around the house

File it under an interest for now.

The Korean tech giant gave the media a glimpse of its humanoid robot on Monday, which is designed to handle household tasks like laundry and fetching food. Although many companies have robots on display at CES, LG is certainly one of the biggest tech companies promising to put service robots in homes.

It will be on display — and we’re showing off some of its alleged capabilities — starting Tuesday, so we’ll have more to report soon.

What’s new in Lollipop?

Music you can taste was on display at CES on Monday: Lollipop Star unveiled a candy that plays music while you eat it. The company uses what it calls “bone induction technology,” which lets you hear songs — tracks by Ice Spice and Akon — through the lollipop when you lick it or bite the back of your mouth, according to spokeswoman Cassie Lawrence.

The musical lollipops will go on sale after CES on Lollipop Star’s website for $8.99 each. And if that wasn’t enough star power, Akon is expected to visit the company’s booth on Tuesday when CES opens to the public.

Atlas captures Hyundai’s (production) world

Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics publicly demonstrated its humanoid robot Atlas for the first time at the CES tech showcase, competing with Tesla and other rivals to build robots that look like people and do things that people do.

The company said a version of the robot that helps assemble cars is already in production and will be deployed at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia, by 2028.

Delta is circular

Delta Air Lines is taking entertainment to new heights as the “Official Airline” of Sphere in Las Vegas. Airline Sphere Entertainment Co. announced a new multi-year partnership with and will offer premium experiences at the venue, including the Delta SKY360° Club Lounge.

The carrier said SkyMiles members can unlock exclusive access to other experiences at Sphere, including private suite seating, food and drinks during the final weekend of the Backstreet Boys’ residency in February. The partnership brings Delta branding to Sphere’s large outdoor LED screen. Delta says more exclusive SkyMiles experiences will roll out in 2026 and beyond.