Beyond the CES hype: why home robots need the self-driving car playbook

With CES 2026 upon us and some predicting that the first affordable home robot will set off a technological race to market this year, those walking the conference floor in Las Vegas this week can expect thrilling robot demos and big promises we’ve been hearing since the 1960s. The explosion of AI has thrown the humanoid home robot hype machine into full tilt, and to be fair, an AI home revolution is indeed underway. 

While we’ve embraced Roombas, smart thermostats, and AI-powered security systems like Ring doorbells for years...