It was an attention-grabbing yr for robots at CES 2025. Whereas we had hoped the AI growth would carry a brand new wave of helpful robots to the present, plainly many robotics corporations are nonetheless determining precisely the way to finest use AI.
What we discovered as an alternative was a mixture of lovable robotic companions, unusual ideas and one, barely terrifying humanoid. We visited numerous robots at CES and, for higher or worse, some actually left an impression on us. These are those that stood out probably the most.
TCL Ai Me
Of all of the surprisingly lovable robots we noticed at CES, TCL’s Ai Me (pronounced “Amy”) was one of many cutest. The concept was on show at TCL’s sales space delighting and bewildering everybody who walked by. With a voice and eyes that are supposed to sound like an precise human baby, TCL appears to be pitching this as an emotional help/companion robotic for youths. On the sales space, Ai Me wasn’t doing a lot apart from transferring round in its wheeled, egg-shaped base, however the firm says that the AI-powered robotic might be used to manage sensible dwelling gadgets or file vlogs, due to built-cameras and AI capabilities.
For now, it’s unclear if TCL truly plans to promote this factor, however the firm appeared to have put fairly a little bit of effort into its CES demo. Along with the one slowly wheeling round a mock-up front room, TCL confirmed off a lineup of various outfits, together with fuzzy bunny fits and a denim vest, for Ai Me. -Karissa Bell
Ropet
As we walked over to the Ropet sales space, an individual was waving a plastic hotdog in front of the little robot and small cartoon hotdogs flashed throughout its eyes in response. I used to be just about offered at that second, but it surely turned out to have another fairly attention-grabbing issues happening too. Ropet responds to voice, contact and gestures, and has its personal cute little emotional reactions. It’s conversational if you’d like it to be, with ChatGPT integration. Largely it’s simply lovable. -Cheyenne MacDonald
Mirumi
Mirumi is a type of CES oddities that makes you concurrently go, “What the hell is that this?” and, “Omg I really like this.” It’s small, fluffy and has no other purpose than to make you smile by trying round and watching you want an harmless child. I instantly felt the necessity to defend it with my life. — CM
Romi
Romi is a conversational robotic that matches within the palm of your hand and is right here for you if you wish to chat, vent or simply hang around. The latest mannequin of the robotic turned up at Unveiled, and we couldn’t assist however be charmed by its cute facial expressions. It matches properly in your arms, so you may carry it round the home with you whilst you stroll round complaining about your workday. -CM
Miroki
Miroki was at CES final yr, however the Enchanted Instruments crew was again exhibiting off the most recent model and a few new abilities, together with LLM integration. If you happen to had been in a position to combat by means of the group surrounding it to stand up shut, you could have seen it rolling round waving at folks, blinking its large cartoon eyes and flicking its ears like a deer. Undecided on whether or not it’s cute or just a little unnerving. -CM
Scorpion
Unsure which had an even bigger presence at #CES2025, robots or "APT." pic.twitter.com/NLZWey94dI
— Engadget (@engadget) January 10, 2025
Scorpion is an AI bartender from Richtech Robotics that sadly wasn’t slinging drinks once we noticed it (or scuttling round, apparently it doesn’t try this), however did carry out a synchronized dance to “Apt.” with the corporate’s Adam bot. Come for the arthropodal robotic, keep for the Ok-pop. -CM
Unitree G1 and "Robotic Canine"
Of all of the robots we noticed at CES 2025, Unitree’s take the prize for many terrifying. The corporate was exhibiting off its new quadruped “robot dog” and humanoid G1 robots. The quadruped, which is actually their tackle Boston Dynamic’s Spot robotic, confirmed off to onlookers by working across the sales space, climbing stairs and sitting on its “hind legs.”
Nevertheless it was the G1 that proved to be the robotic we would have liked to fret about. I used to be taking photographs of the roughly 4-foot tall humanoid when it out of the blue ran at me full-speed. I used to be solely a foot or so in entrance of it on the time because of the crowd within the sales space, so the roughly 60-pound G1 slammed immediately into my physique at an all out run. The encompassing crowd meant I used to be basically pinned in place for just a few seconds whereas the robotic continued to try to run by means of me till its operator was in a position to regain management. Fortuitously, this was a case of consumer error and never the start of a robotic rebellion. The individual holding the gamepad-like controller for the robotic had mistakenly mashed the joystick, sending it immediately into my physique. A minimum of I can now say I do know what it feels prefer to be physique slammed by a robotic. -KB
Mi-Mo
One of many extra uncommon robots we noticed at CES, Mi-Mo is a six-legged table with a lamp on top. We didn’t see Mi-Mo do a lot apart from shimmy across the present ground and “wave,” however there are some actually attention-grabbing concepts behind the AI-powered robotic. It runs on a number of giant language fashions and "thinks and acts" primarily based on its surroundings. Its creators say it might assist with childcare and eldercare duties. Mi-Mo might be obtainable to builders and researchers as a dev package later this yr. -KB
Reachy 2
Pollen Robotics was right here at CES exhibiting off Reachy 2, it’s newest machine that’ll price you $75,000 in case you have that type of money laying round. It’s an lovable open-source machine with a human pilot that, its makers say, is good for tele-operation and knowledge acquisition. I simply assume it’s cute, particularly when it waves at you. -Daniel Cooper
Extra reporting by Daniel Cooper.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dwelling/smart-home/the-robots-we-saw-at-ces-2025-the-good-the-bad-and-the-completely-unhinged-174529774.html?src=rss
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