- One of the biggest tech shows in the world just ended.
- CES 2025 brought us cool, crazy tech demos and lots of robots.
- The featured robots highlight how companies are thinking about positioning technology, including AI, in the home.
Cute, a little weird, and in some cases the uncanny valley, more robots are on the way.
Techies in Las Vegas just got their best look yet at the robots that various companies are building, thanks to the annual Consumer Electronics Show, one of the world’s largest tech trade shows that ended last week.
The robots offer a glimpse into how companies and startups are looking to bring technology like AI and autonomy into people’s homes. The variety of models also raises the question of what kind of aesthetic potential buyers might gravitate towards.
Have you designed a “cute” robot? Something that is strictly functional? Or do you aim for realism and risk some buyers finding the design too colorful or boring?
We took a look at the robots presented at CES this year and rounded up the ones that stood out, whether for their potential utility or eye-catching design.
A $175,000 companion robot with ‘relationship-based AI’
An attendee touches the head of a robot at the Realbotix booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 9, 2025. Ian Maule / AFP
If you’re looking for companies that go the Bladerunner route and aim for realism, look no further than Realbotix’s humanoid robots.
Realbotix offers robots designed to look like humans in three options: A bust starting at $10,000; a modular robot for $150,000; and a full-body version for $175,000.
The company boasts that it can “copy any human face with 14+ movable points to create multiple life-like expressions,” and that its robots’ bodies can be customized. Comedian Whitney Cummings has previously spoken on stage about her lookalike robot from Realbotix.
If you’re thinking that some people will use bots as an AI boyfriend or girlfriend, bots seem to be leaning towards the idea by touting “relationship-based AI.” A Realbotix robot named Aria said in a demo at CES that the robots are “specifically designed for companionship and intimacy.”
The bot can hold conversations thanks to AI, and its eyes have cameras to identify who it’s talking to.
An AI robot with children in mind
TCL’s Ai me robot has features to appeal to children and adults alike. Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
One of the cutest robots to come out of CES this year is the one from TV maker TCL (sounds like “Amy.”)
It’s definitely designed with kids in mind, with big doe eyes that can blink, a baby voice, flapping arms and interchangeable outfits. It sits in a cradle of the type that rolls on wheels, but it can also be removed.
However, it also has features that may appeal to adults, including integrations with smart home devices and your car, as well as AI image recognition to identify things on display.
The company says it’s “the world’s first modular AI companion robot.” It’s just a concept at the moment, with no guarantee that it will ever come to market.
A vacuum robot with one arm
Roborock’s Saros Z70 has an extended arm to move items out of its way or pick up small items like socks. Roborock
On the utilitarian side of the spectrum, robot vacuums also featured some improvements.
The Saros Z70 from Roborock uses AI to analyze its environment and has a foldable arm that can be extended to move objects out of the way so it can clean your home and pick up light items like socks or small towels.
It is expected to be released in the first half of this year.
A robovac with legs
Dreame’s new robovac can climb a small ledge thanks to its legs. daydream
Robovacs aren’t just getting guns. The X50 Ultra robot vacuum cleaner from Dreame has “legs”.
The robot vacuum climbed onto a small ledge in a demo at CES, after a few hiccups at first. (It’s still a long way from, say, walking up the stairs in your house.)
It’s available for pre-order now and will launch on February 14th for $1,699.99.
Samsung’s Ballie is back
Ballie, a robot manufactured by Samsung. Samsung
This isn’t Ballie’s first CES rodeo, but Samsung says it will finally be available to consumers some time this year.
The ball-shaped robot, which Samsung is branding as an AI companion robot for the home, gets around on wheels and first debuted at CES 2020.
Samsung says Ballie’s AI capabilities include answering calls, projecting movies on your wall and sending videos of what your pets are up to while you’re away from home.
A robot as fluffy as a bird
Mirumi is a robotic version of a bag charm. Engineer Yukai
Think of Yukai Engineering’s Mirumi as a robotic version of a pom pom bag charm.
The furry robot accessory resembles a bird and can be clipped to your arm or a handbag and interact with its surroundings.
When someone enters his field of vision, he shyly hides his face, for example.
Yukai Engineering says crowdfunding will begin this fall for Mirumi.
Tesla and others are preparing their own robots
Beyond those presented at CES, other robots are under development at major tech companies.
Apple is said to be working on home robots. Amazon has its $1,600 Astro robot, which is still invite-only. And Tesla’s Elon Musk wants to eventually launch the Optimus humanoid robot to consumers in the coming years.
Whether or not buyers are willing to spend hundreds, and in many cases, thousands on a home robot is another question.
And while Nvidia didn’t show off a robot of its own at CES, during his trade show keynote, CEO Jensen Huang announced the company’s new AI superchip, the GB10, which is designed to power humanoid robots and other uses of AI .
