CES 2026: AI leaves the lab and robots take the stage

CES 2026 in Las Vegas made one thing clear: the era of AI hype is over and the era of practical AI has begun. Robotics was the dominant theme, with every major manufacturer showing their own humanoid robot.

The year of AI pragmatism

Experts agree: 2026 marks a fundamental shift in how companies approach AI:

From (2024-2025)	Towards (2026)
Bigger models	Smaller, more efficient models
Impressive demos	Specific deployments
”AI will solve everything"	"What’s the ROI of this AI?"
"Autonomous” agents	Agents that actually help

SLMs: The new trend

According to AT&T’s Chief Data Officer:

“Fine-tuned SLMs (Small Language Models) will be the big trend and become a staple used by mature AI enterprises in 2026, as the cost and performance advantages will drive usage over out-of-the-box LLMs.”

Robots everywhere

CES 2026 had more humanoid robots than any previous event:

Company	Robot	Manufacturer
NVIDIA	Full stack	Multiple partners
AMD	GENE.01	Generative Bionics
Intel	RoBee	Oversonic Robotics
Hyundai	Atlas	Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics + Hyundai

The most significant announcement for manufacturing: Hyundai will develop a value chain for mass-producing robots, with plans to use Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot in factories starting in 2028.

This means industrial robotics is about to scale massively.

Intel Panther Lake: The comeback with 18A

Intel presented its Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) chips, the first using its 18A process technology:

Metric vs Jetson Orin	Intel Advantage
Image classification	1.7x better
LLM latency	1.9x better
Video analytics	2.3x better

This is a crucial move for Intel in its attempt to regain ground in the semiconductor market.

Quantum: IBM predicts the tipping point

IBM declared that 2026 will be the first year a quantum computer outperforms a classical one in practical tasks:

“This will unlock breakthroughs in drug development, materials science, and financial optimization.”

For companies, this means it’s time to:

1. Understand which problems are quantum candidates
2. Evaluate quantum-as-a-service providers
3. Prepare teams for the transition

SDV: Software-Defined Vehicles

Renesas announced a pioneering integration: vendor-neutral SDV-as-a-Service platform:

• Powered by Azure
• Visual Studio Code integration
• CI/CD pipelines with GitHub
• Microsoft Copilot AI integrated

This reflects how automotive software development is increasingly resembling traditional software development.

What it means for businesses

Immediate opportunities

1. Fine-tuned SLMs: Evaluate if you can use small models instead of giant LLM APIs
2. Edge AI: Client chips now have serious AI capabilities
3. Robotics pilots: If you have manufacturing or logistics operations, it’s time to pilot

Medium-term trends

1. Quantum readiness: Start identifying use cases
2. SDV capabilities: If you work in automotive, the development stack is changing
3. Physical AI: Foundation models for robots are maturing

Warning signs

1. Vendor lock-in: Every manufacturer wants you to use their complete stack
2. Overpromises: Robotics hype may repeat AI hype mistakes
3. Hidden costs: Specialized hardware means significant investments

Executive summary

Category	What happened	What it means
AI	Shift from giant LLMs to practical SLMs	Lower costs, faster deployments
Chips	NVIDIA Rubin, AMD MI500, Intel 18A	Fierce competition benefits buyers
Robots	Every manufacturer showed humanoid	2028-2030 will be the era of factory robots
Quantum	IBM predicts practical superiority	Time to prepare
Automotive	SDV-as-a-Service with dev tools	Cars developed like software

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