The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas remains the ultimate barometer for the tech industry, and this year, the spotlight has shifted from “what AI can say” to “what AI can do.” We are moving past chatbots and entering the era of “Physical AI”, a transition that is beginning to reshape the valuations of the world’s largest AI industry players.
As the most valuable company in the world, Nvidia continues to be the undisputed leader and enabler of the AI revolution. While the stock market remains fixated on their data center dominance, CES 2026 has highlighted their pivot toward “Physical AI, bridging AI models and robotics to enable faster development of automomous machines such as cars and robots. This was evidenced by ” foundation models like Cosmos and Alpamayo.
While Blackwell continues to dominate AI supply chains, Nvidia is already eyeing the next generation of its AI platform – Vera Rubin. At CES, Nvidia said that a super computer built on the Vera Rubin architecture is already in production. But new chips were not what stole the show at CES.
Nvidia is getting ready to form the next generation of autonomous vehicles. CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the Alpamayo platform. It brings AI directly into the vehicle, enabling vehicles not only to “see” through sensors, but also to truly “understand” these inputs. Alpamayo will be largely open-source, allowing manufacturers, insurers, courts, and all interested parties to understand the AI’s decisions. According to Nvidia, the system can analyze traffic situations and justify them internally. This could be a huge step for autonomous vehicles, and a setback for companies like Tesla and Waymo who were keeping their tech in a “black box”. It’s somewhat similar to what DeepSeek did to ChatGPT and others.
Samsung, being a massive conglomerate, is making headlines in all kinds of tech markets. The stock has recently rocketed thanks to a shortage of memory chips which benefits Samsung as one of the largest producers worldwide. But the company is not sleeping on consumer tech either. Samsung came guns blazing to CES, revealing their new Galaxy Z TriFold. Samsung’s phones are starting to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops at this point. It’s worth questioning whether Apple may be lagging behind despite the recent stock price boost from the launch of iPhone 17. Samsung is sending a clear message that they are not slowing down on innovation – something that Apple has long been criticized for.
Lenovo brought another interesting example of bringing AI to life. Their new CLOiD household robot is designed to help with household tasks such as starting laundry cycles, folding clothes, unloading the dishwasher and serving food. While it likely won’t be available any time soon, it shows that real progress is being made in the world of physical AI beyond robots dancing on stage with Jensen Huang. Lenovo stock has been a laggard, falling -2,4 % last year.
Ultimately, CES 2026 confirms that the AI trade is maturing. The focus has moved from the hardware companies enabling AI technology to software developers who are building the infrastructure of daily life. For investors, the key takeaway is that AI is turning into a tangible consumer utility.
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