Artificial intelligence doesn’t always want to optimize your life or steal your job. Sometimes, AI just wants to be your friend. And while robot pets weren’t the biggest stars of CES 2026, they’ve become more than just noise and are indicative of how AI is clearly leaving our screens and taking up a physical presence in our lives.
To be clear, there’s no shortage of purpose-built machines on display in Las Vegas: Samsung’s voice-controlled refrigerator, Bosch’s Alexa Plus-powered AI barista, and smart robovacs like Narwhal’s earring-finding Flow 2 or Anker’s Eufy S2, which moonlights as an aromatherapy diffuser — all of which promise to automate the drudgery of daily life. Humanoid robots like LG’s CLOiD and SwitchBot’s Onero H1 also made a lot of headlines, taking this logic a step further and promising more general-purpose assistants around the house — or on the factory floor, in the case of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas — even if they remain years away from everyday use.
But not every robot at CES is interested in doing the job. Away from the grand displays and flashy promises of automation, a quiet trend is taking shape: machines designed for smaller purposes beyond existing. And they are everywhere.
If you ever get bored of charging your phone, Luna’s DeskMate offers a solution: It turns your iPhone into a furry companion with big, Pixar-like eyes that tracks you while you talk. There are practical features, too, like Slack integration and meeting support, but as a selling point they seem almost incidental to the companion experience. The company says the tool is powered by AI, although it doesn’t say how.
Speaking of Pixar, AI robotics startup Zeroth wants to sell you a real-life WALL-E companion, or, in markets like the US where it lacks the Disney license, something closer to WALL-E’s weird, off-brand cousin. The robot, called W1, doesn’t really do much other than follow you, carry small objects, or snap a few photos. company They say The W1 is built on “advanced mobility and environmental AI”, although details are vague.
Zeroth is also bringing to the US a doll-sized humanoid robot, M1, a home companion that adds utilities – reminders, child care assistance, fall detection – to the companion, using Google’s Gemini AI model for conversation. That combination has already secured an audience for popular social robots in parts of Asia, particularly China and South Korea, where robots are popular among children and elderlyCES 2026 shows that this concept is now being deliberately repackaged and marketed for Western homes,
Others lean even more clearly toward emotional companionship. In other words: robot pets. there is FuzhouA puffball that purrs when you pet it and can recognize its owner. Unlike many home AI devices, it has a cellular connectionAllowing it to be taken with you is a sign of how ubiquitous these products may become in the future, even if it’s not clear how exactly the AI ​​is being used.
Robovac company Ecovacs was also marketing a robot that looks like a Bichon Frize. It says the emotional companion robot, LiliMilo, uses AI and “lifelike biometrics” to recognize voices, develop a personality, and adapt to the user’s habits. Like other products, the description of the AI ​​element inside LilMilo is generic and nondescript. It’s a strange product for a company that only recently launched a robotic pool cleaner, and it’s a clear sign of how companies are increasingly expecting us to welcome physical AI companions into our homes, not for their work, but simply to be there.
