CES 2026: How auto and tech companies are turning cars into companions

In a vision of the near future shared at CES, a girl slides into the back seat of her parents’ car and the cabin instantly comes alive. The vehicle recognizes her, knows it’s her birthday and cues up her favorite song without a word spoken.

“Think of the car as having a soul and being an extension of your family,” Sri Subramanian, Nvidia’s global head of generative AI for automotive, said Tuesday.

Subramanian’s example, shared with a CES audience on the show’s opening day in Las Vegas...