Tech innovators unveil new AI products ahead of CES

Hundreds of companies showcased their latest gadgets and tech innovations in Las Vegas on Sunday (January 4) at CES Unveiled, a media preview event that sets the stage for the bigger tech industry trade show opening on Tuesday (January 6).

AI is the main focus of CES 2026, said Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which produces the event, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show.

Among the first time exhibitors was China's X-Origin, who showed off an AI robot companion named Yonbo, who can teach children how to use AI prompts.

"Yonbo can tell you stories and each story can be interactive. And Yonbo will lead kids into an AI imagined world," said Silvia Fan, the company's vice president.

Chinese robotics company Zeroth presented a compact, lightweight humanoid robot that can use different autonomous AI software systems, known as agents, to match the needs of different people in a family. Children can use an agent to help with learning, while older people can talk to the robot and have it write an autobiography based on the stories it hears, said Zeroth's founder and CEO Renjie Guo.

CES runs January 6-9 and features thousands of exhibitors across 13 venues and 2.6 million square feet (250,000 square meters), according to the CTA.

Among the 2026 highlights are keynote addresses from Yuanqing Yang, chairman and CEO of Lenovo, the world's largest personal computer manufacturer, and AI chip giant Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang.

-Production: Sandra Stojanovic and Jane Ross/Reuters