CES 2026 highlights Korea’s tech challenges in era of physical AI

As expected, AI took center stage at this year’s tech exhibition and all the Korean manufacturing giants — from IT to carmakers — went all out to showcase their updated AI visions converged with hardware.

This was inevitable, as the tech paradigm shift does not allow any firms to survive without the adoption of concrete AI business strategies.

Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor remain arguably the three most influential tech players for the annual tech fair, driven largely by their top-notch technological prowess in hardware.

However, CES 2026 clearly showed that the old days when the Korean tech firms could ensure continued growth only with hardware-centric business models are gone.

Visitors to the show could easily spot Amazon’s self-driving robotaxi Zoox operating on streets near the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and major hotels during the four-day exhibition which ended on Friday.

The completely self-driving robotaxi was busy carrying passengers from the show’s venue to nearby hotels, and vice versa.

Hyundai Motor Group also displayed its plan to initiate its self-driving service no later than this year, but the Korean carmaker is still considered a latecomer in terms of the global race for autonomous driving.

The carmaker garnered massive attention at CES for its display of multiple AI-powered robots, such as the Atlas humanoid robot, but in terms of the self-driving vision, it still has a long way to go compared with market leaders such as Tesla or Waymo.

Nvidia’s attention-grabbing announcement of its Alpamayo open AI platform for self-driving cars also raises concerns among Korean carmakers that they could become dependent on the U.S. AI chipmaker for autonomous driving software.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics also proved their unmatched hardware strength during this year’s exhibition, focusing on promoting their own AI strategies.

However, the long-established IT giants are still not regarded as strong players in software and the AI-driven global tech paradigm shift.

The rapid rise of Chinese rivals also adds more challenges to the Korean firms, as a number of Chinese players have expanded their presence at the world’s largest IT fair each year.

TCL, a Chinese electronics maker, set up the largest exhibition hall in LVCC, displaying multiple AI-powered smart product portfolios. Geely also unveiled its Geely Afari Smart Driving (G-ASD) intelligent driving system for the first time at CES 2026, aiming to accelerate its autonomous driving capabilities.

Chinese players also dominated Eureka Park, a startup-dedicated exhibition area of CES. The booth of Roborock, an intelligent robot vacuum cleaner maker, stood at the very center of the exhibition hall, attracting huge attention from visitors by showcasing multiple intelligent cleaners powered by AI.

“Korean firms still have technological upsides, but the status quo cannot persist unless they map out a clearer AI and software vision to stay ahead with their Chinese rivals,” an industry official said.