Each year, CES tries to find the rhythm of technology in everyday life. In 2026, that rhythm is pitched as ubiquity, but with a credibility problem attached. Roland Busch put the ambition in its clearest form when he said Siemens is “bringing intelligence to every machine, every device and every piece of infrastructure.” Read literally, it is a systems promise. Read culturally, it is a bid to make intelligence a default condition of domestic life, something you live inside rather than something you choose. The complication is that CES has spent years overselling “smart” as convenience and automation, and that history has made the word thinner than the industry wants to admit.
In 2026, brands are trying to restore weight to the term by expanding what “intelligence” signals: not just speed and personalization, but care, safety, and purpose. Samsung’s own framing makes the move explicit, positioning AI as a companion for living and describing appliances as companions that guide daily life. Whether households believe that claim will take longer than any single product cycle.
