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Although the official CES kickoff is on Tuesday, that has not stopped companies from unveiling their latest and greatest product news ahead of the conference. This is especially true for the AI category, which has become increasingly ubiquitous, with launches including everything from standard AI models to AI-enhanced products such as pins, glasses, smart rings, mirrors, and even pet food bowls.
Also: CES 2026: Live updates on the biggest TV, smart glasses, and robot news (and more)
Since CES has a firehouse of announcements happening every day, I am gathering the most exciting AI finds for you from the conference, using ZDNET's coverage from both on and beyond the show floor. Under the "exciting" category umbrella fall products that you can purchase tomorrow to make your life easier, as well as developments that are moving the needle and advancing the space further.
Without further ado, here are some of the top AI announcements so far at this year's show.
It wouldn't be a rundown of the biggest AI announcements at CES without mention of AI mega-giant Nvidia. The company kicked off the year with a slew of announcements made during their keynote in Vegas on Monday, all focused on accelerating AI developments through new chips, models, simulations, and more.
While there is too much news to highlight in this roundup, you can learn more about how Nvidia's advancements in physical AI models (including some new robots) by reading my piece HERE. You can also learn about what was perhaps the biggest announcement, the new Rubin chipset series, in ZDNET's Cesar Cadenas deep dive HERE.
Every year, CES proves that robovacs don't have to be boring, as they can leverage the latest technologies to do more for you. While the Narwal Flow 2 may not have a robot arm, it does utilize AI for unlimited object recognition, allowing it to adjust to different scenarios in your home.
As ZDNET smart home expert Maria Diaz writes, "Using AI, the Narwal Flow 2 can automatically adapt to clean quietly near a baby's crib, and even send reminders for misplaced toys. With Pet Care Mode, the robot boosts cleaning power in pet zones, can find your pet, and features companion video calling.
An AI Floor Tag feature recognizes and tags valuable items on your floors, sending you a notification and logging them with priority levels for highest avoidance."
Also: This robot vacuum at CES 2026 can find lost items on your floor and alert you of them
While the Pebble Index 01 smart ring was launched ahead of CES, it was showcased at CES's Unveiled event, and it's on the list as it represents a unique application of AI. Essentially, you can click on the smart ring and tell it something you want to jot down.
It will then send that information to the Pebble app on your phone and convert it to text, allowing it to take action, such as setting a reminder. Now you never have to forget any fleeting thoughts, even if you are away from your phone, at a price of $75.
A competitor, the Vocci AI smart ring, was also on display at Unveiled and aims to fill the same gap. However, ZDNET wearable expert Nina Raemont told me that after seeing the Vocci AI smart ring demo, she would still be more inclined to use Pebble's rendition.
While AI wearables are not a new concept, what makes Project Luci stand out is the proprietary AI model that underlies it.
Project Luci is a research prototype that consists of the actual pin and models working in conjunction to give users actionable insights about their day, as well as video content they can access later for reference or content creation purposes. If you were familiar with it from last year's CES, it retains the same form factor, featuring a sleek square design and a magnetic clasp.
Also: The most exciting AI wearable at CES 2026 might not be smart glasses after all
Memories.ai's Large Visual Memory Model (LVMM) seeks to address the pitfalls other AI wearables have had in the past by converting the continuous video captured by the pin into structured on-device encoding frames, which can be used to index and reference them in what the blog post refers to as a "sub-second search and recall."
The product is not yet available for purchase, but developers can build on it. The company is also working with leading AI wearable companies, including Rokid, Sharge, and RayNeo, to integrate Memories.ai's technology into their devices.
SleepQ 2.0 was recognized as a CES Innovation 2026 Honoree in Artificial Intelligence, and after a brief demo, it's easy to understand why. While the company's slogan is "Where Pills meet AI," it is much less intimidating or invasive than it sounds.
The app effectively works with your wearables, diaries, and other external APIs to determine when taking your sleep medication would be most effective. To be clear, the app is not prescribing medicine; rather, it uses your information to suggest when taking the pill could be most effective. It can also predict insomnia episodes using all of the data you input.
There's an AgentZ AI agent within the app that can help guide you through the entire process.
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