Welcome to 2026. Now, rinse off your champagne glasses and drink some painkillers, because CES, the tech industry’s biggest show of the year, kicks off Tuesday under the lights of Las Vegas.
Companies large and small will take over the famous Las Vegas Strip and Las Vegas Convention Center to unveil their latest and greatest products, as well as some dubious ones that will never make it to market.
While the show officially begins on January 6, festivities begin days earlier, including a CES unveiling and a press conference featuring Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and AMD (AMD) CEO Lisa Su. This means artificial intelligence will be front and center at the show.
This will include everything from artificial intelligence-focused PCs to new chips. But robots look set to steal the show in 2026.
“Every year at CES there’s a theme. Sometimes you don’t know what it is until you get to the show and everyone is talking about it,” explained Kinsey Fabrizio, president of the Consumer Technology Association trade group that runs CES.
“But we can tell you right now that robotics is going to be a hot topic at CES.”
Yahoo Finance will be live in Las Vegas bringing you all the latest news and announcements. Here’s what we expect from CES 2026.
CES has become a battleground for chipmakers and designers to showcase their products to the world alongside their biggest competitors.
Nvidia became a hot topic in Las Vegas last year when Huang delivered a keynote speech to a large audience at Michelob Ultra Arena, launching the company’s latest lineup of gaming chips, desktop-sized artificial intelligence devices, and various artificial intelligence software services and platforms.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang addresses attendees during the CES 2025 keynote on January 6, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) ·NurPhoto from Getty Images
This year, you can expect even more from a company that will have a market capitalization of $4.5 trillion in 2025. Huang is scheduled to take the stage on January 5 at 1:00 pm PT, where he will likely unveil new gaming products as well as a host of artificial intelligence applications and features.
AMD’s Su will host her own keynote a few hours later at 6:30 PM PT, where the company will push back on Nvidia’s announcement and provide updates on its own gaming and artificial intelligence products.
Jim Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s (INTC) Client Computing Group, will also deliver a keynote speech at CES 2026. He is expected to deliver the latest updates on Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 chips, codenamed Panther Lake, at CES 2026.
The processors, which Intel first launched in October, are the first to use the company’s highly anticipated 18A chip technology and are a key part of its broader transformation efforts.
Qualcomm (QCOM) will also be at CES, and its CEO Cristiano Amon will have a fireside chat with Fortune’s Andrew Nusca. Qualcomm launched its Snapdragon X-series processors for Windows PCs during CES 2025 and may continue the momentum at this year’s event.
Each chipmaker is likely to provide insights into its plans to power physical artificial intelligence systems (the technical term for robots) during the show.
During CES in Las Vegas on January 9, 2025, the Snapdragon booth highlighted laptops equipped with Qualcomm’s cutting-edge system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor technology. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) ·NurPhoto from Getty Images
Humanoid robots are expected to be on display across Las Vegas this year, along with a slew of robotic arms, artificial intelligence-powered drones and self-driving cars, as the industry looks to quickly advance the technology.
Speaking of cars, CES has become the premier showcase for the auto industry’s tech ambitions, and this year is no different. The show is likely to include the mainstream flying car concepts of recent years, as well as the various ways in which car companies are seeking to capitalize on the artificial intelligence trend by incorporating the technology into vehicle dashboards.
AI-powered wearables and fitness trackers may also debut at CES 2026. These devices can come in the form of smart rings, glasses, or pins. There’s been a lot of interest in the smart glasses space in particular, with the launch of Meta’s (META) Ray-Ban Display glasses in September and plans by Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Samsung to launch their own smart glasses.
Apple ( AAPL ) is also reportedly looking to get into smart glasses, although the company isn’t making an appearance at CES, instead hosting its own standout events throughout the year at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Of course, there are bound to be some weird and wacky products at CES 2026. Over the years, we’ve seen everything from smart toilets to forks designed to help you eat healthier food.
