CES 2026: revolution or marketing? Artificial intelligence to the test

Starting in January, increases will also arrive for internal disks, while for external USB disks, a shortage will last for months.

RAM inflation is driven by a structural shortage of advanced memories needed for on-device AI. Analysts speak of a K-shaped economy: strong polarisation between premium segments (which absorb price increases) and budget segments (which suffer). What will happen? Low-innovation products risk disappearing because they will be forced to increase in price.

While first-class mobile phones and the most expensive computers will have to contend with the purchasing power of consumers, which, after the pandemic boom, has experienced years of stagnation. Without true innovation, without an AI capable of truly solving problems and improving our lives, wallets will not open. That is why this year's CES will be particularly complex to interpret.

All eyes are on smart glasses. After years of false starts, 2026 is the year when talking smart glasses with holographic displays will become a credible mass product. Thanks to more efficient chipsets, we will see lightweight glasses that offer real-time translation and data overlays without looking like construction helmets.

New products are expected. At CES we will see the first 'screenless' devices dedicated exclusively to housing these personal agents. We will move from AI that talks to AI that acts.

Health goes from monitoring to prediction. The 'digital twin' technology for the heart and metabolism will enable virtual simulations based on real user data to prevent cardiac events. Then new mind-reading technologies are expected. There is explicit talk of brain-computer interfaces (such as Neuralink) moving from science fiction to 'early reality', suggesting that mind control of devices will be the next big post-touchscreen trend.

Anthropomorphic robots are also big players, ready to enter and place themselves in our homes. We will see plenty of robots here at CES. In the United States, home trials for robots such as Neo by 1X and Memo by Sunday Robotics, focused on practical tasks and not just AI 'chatter', are underway.

But the real battleground will be local privacy. With AI constantly 'seeing' and 'hearing' everything, the killer feature of 2026 will be the ability to ensure that data never leaves the device. We expect consumers to pay a premium for devices that guarantee that biometric data and requests to AI never leave the device. 'Local' hardware will become a security status symbol. Maybe not here in Las Vegas, in Donald Trump's America. But certainly at home, in Europe.