CES 2026 in Las Vegas delivered a rich showcase of robotics innovation, blending spectacle with hints of real-world utility. TechCrunch notes that among the most talked-about machines was Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid Atlas, a production-ready robot that underscores how far physical AI has progressed beyond screens and software into tangible machines with purposeful movement. On the show floor, dozens of curious robots drew crowds, each highlighting a different facet of robotics development, from playful demonstrations to emerging service-oriented designs.
One of the more eye-catching exhibits featured a ping-pong-playing robot from the Chinese firm Sharpa, designed to spotlight advanced robotic hand dexterity. Though its game wasn’t fast-paced, the robot illustrated how robots can learn and mimic complex, dynamic tasks. Nearby, humanoid robots styled as boxing figures entertained attendees by shadowboxing in a small ring. Their unpredictable movement and occasional stumbles drew laughs and underscored the challenges of balancing agility with stability in humanoid designs.
Robots that dance remained a crowd favorite too, with Unitree’s bots showing off rhythmic moves and playful motion that highlighted improvements in real-time balance and expressive motion. Practicality wasn’t forgotten: at the Galbot booth, a convenience-store clerk robot fetched items from virtual shelves, demonstrating baseline navigation and object retrieval for future retail or service environments.
Household applications also made a strong showing. Advanced dual robotic arms from Dyna Robotics demonstrated efficient laundry folding, a long-standing benchmark for manipulation and automation. At LG’s section, the home assistant robot CLOid offered a gentler, consumer-oriented vision of a butler-like machine, though reviews noted its slower pace relative to expectations.
Beyond the robots featured in person, other notable entrants included stair-climbing cleaning vacuums and ice-cream-serving prototypes—quirky ideas that reflect the breadth of ambition in today’s robotics field. Altogether, CES 2026’s robotics exhibits revealed both the playful and practical directions in which physical AI is evolving.