AI moves into the real world as companion robots and pets

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 signaling how AI is apparently leaving our screens and taking on a physical presence in our lives.

To be clear, there’s no shortage of purpose-built machines on display in Las Vegas: there’s Samsung’s voice-controlled refrigerator, Bosch’s Alexa Plus-powered AI barista, and smarter robovacs like Narwal’s earring-finding Flow 2 or Anker’s Eufy S2, which moonlights as an aromatherapy diffuser – all promising to automate the drudgery of daily life. Humanoid robots like LG’s CLOiD and SwitchBot’s Onero H1 stole much of the spotlight, too, taking that logic a step further by promising more general-purpose helpers around the home — or 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 seems that interested in having a job. Away from the big demos and flashy promises of automation, a quieter trend is taking shape: machines designed for little purpose beyond existing. And they’re everywhere.

If you ever get bored charging your phone, Loona’s DeskMate offers a solution: it transforms your iPhone into a cutesy companion with oversized, Pixar-like eyes that track you as you talk. It has practical features too, like Slack integration and meeting assistance, but as a selling point they feel almost incidental to the companion experience. The company says the tool is powered by AI, though it does not 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 close to WALL-E’s weird, off-brand cousin. The robot, called W1, doesn’t really do much besides follow you around, carrying small items, or snapping a few pictures. The company says W1 is built on “advanced mobility and environmental AI,” though details are vague.

Zeroth is also bringing a doll-sized humanoid robot, M1, to the US, an at-home companion that blends utility — reminders, childcare assistance, fall detection — with companionship, making use of Google’s Gemini AI model for conversations. That combination has already secured an audience for social robots popular in parts of Asia, particularly in China and South Korea, where the robots are popular with children and the elderly. CES 2026 suggests this concept is now being deliberately repackaged and marketed for Western homes.

Others leaned even more explicitly into emotional companionship. In other words: robot pets. There’s Fuzozo, a puffball that purrs when you pet it and can recognize its owner. Unlike many housebound AI devices, it has a cellular connection, allowing it to be carried around with you, a hint at how ubiquitous these products might be in the future, even if it’s unclear how precisely AI is being used.

Robovac company Ecovacs was also marketing a robot that resembles a Bichon Frisé. It says the emotional companion robot, LilMilo, uses AI and “lifelike biometrics” to recognize voices, develop a personality, and adapt to user habits. As with other products, details on the AI element inside LilMilo are generic and nondescript. It’s an odd product for a company that just launched a robotic pool cleaner, and a telling sign of how companies increasingly expect us to welcome physical AI companions into our homes not for what they do, but simply for being there.