1 day ago
3
It says a lot about the current moment when one of the world’s largest EV sellers shows up at the world’s biggest electronics show to announce not a new, more affordable model or a cool futuristic concept car, but a humanoid robot. And one we’ve seen already.
Hyundai’s decision to use its CES keynote to tout Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot sends a pretty clear message about how the auto industry is absorbing the bad news about EVs in the United States in 2025, and where it thinks things are heading in the new year. EVs are out, and AI and robotaxis are in.
In addition to Hyundai, Mercedes announced its plans to roll out its Nvidia-powered Level 2++ driver assist feature in the US later this year. Also coming in 2026 is Uber’s new Lucid Gravity robotaxi, which was also on display at CES. And Nvidia, the world’s biggest chipmaker and arguably the company most responsible for the current AI bubble, announced a new family of open-source models called Alpamayo, which it says will power new autonomous and driver-assistance features.
CES has always been a hotbed for robots and other assorted AI ephemera, but it also used to be the hottest car show around. It’s where Chevy announced its first mass-market EV, the Bolt, and where everyone from Honda to BMW to Ram would gather to show off future battery-powered concepts. You could see color-changing cars, shape-shifting vans, and even a few flying cars if you were lucky.
This year, the only thing with four-wheels to make its debut was Sony and Honda’s new Afeela SUV prototype. The regular Afeela was there too, five years after its initial debut and still just short of production.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the current dour mood around EVs. Growth in global sales is expected to slow significantly in 2026, as China winds down some EV subsidies, Europe wavers on its ban on the sale of gas cars, and the US reverses much of its own policies to get more people to buy EVs. Automakers across the board are reining in their EV plans, pivoting instead to hybrids and extended-range EVs.
Meanwhile, AI continues to suck all the air out of the room. Car companies seem to think that in order to be taken seriously by Wall Streets’ overly exuberant investors they need to have an AI strategy, or a chatbot, or even a humanoid robot. It’s not enough to just sell cars anymore.
Maybe someday CES will reemerge as a car show. Maybe when the auto industry is feeling less anxious about global trade and rising manufacturing costs, it’ll be ready to give us a glimpse of the future again.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
