Bloomberg Technology anchors its live coverage from the heart of CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow are documenting a transformative "industrial revolution" powered by Physical AI. Despite lingering geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Russia, Hyde observes that the NASDAQ and S&P 500 have brushed off the risks to maintain record highs, fueled by an insatiable global appetite for artificial intelligence. Ludlow identifies NVIDIA as the "mainstay" of this year's conference, noting that despite reports of China halting certain chip orders, the company's forecast for its Blackwell and Rubin architectures remains a primary focal point for the markets. This surge in demand has triggered what semiconductor analyst Ian King describes as a "famine" in the memory industry, as manufacturers find themselves unable to build factories fast enough to keep pace with the price spikes caused by short-term supply shortages.
During a deep-dive interview with Ludlow, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang detailed the immense technical difficulty behind the new Rubin GPU system, revealing it required 15,000 engineer years to develop. Huang emphasized that the Rubin system is ten times more energy and cost-efficient than the previous generation, serving as a catalyst for "Physical AI" that integrates into factory automation and digital twins to ensure complex systems are built correctly the first time. Intel is also signaling a competitive comeback, with client computing head Jim Johnson telling Hyde that the company’s "long journey" has culminated in the launch of the 18-A process node. Johnson claims this new technology delivers 15% better performance per watt and 30% better chip density, allowing for more compact designs and multi-day battery life in the next generation of AI-powered PCs.
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The transition from digital assistants to physical machines is a dominant theme, as Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon describes robotics as the "next big wave," predicting that industrial autonomous applications will begin as early as 2026. This shift is further evidenced by Mobileye’s $900 million acquisition of Mentee Bot, a move CEO Amnon Shashua characterizes as an essential extension of their AI expertise from autonomous driving into humanoid robotics. While Hyde and Ludlow acknowledge that domestic robots for the home remain a longer-term goal due to challenges in dexterity, the industrial sector is already seeing robots restocking shelves and performing warehouse tasks.
On the business and investment front, the IPO pipeline is showing renewed vitality; Hyde and Ludlow highlight Discord's confidential filing and the staggering growth of Anthropic, which is reportedly expanding three times faster than initial venture capital projections. Meanwhile, the media landscape is facing its own AI disruption, with experts like Paul Pastor suggesting that the future of streaming lies in AI-driven hyper-personalization rather than traditional cable network assets. As the conference progresses, the overarching message from the Bloomberg team is clear: whether in semiconductors, robotics, or media, the industry is moving toward a future where AI creates a tangible, real-world impact.
Bringing AI into the physical world is like a master composer finally finding an orchestra capable of playing their most complex symphony; for years, the "music" existed only as notes on a page, but with the advent of advanced robotics and efficient silicon, the performance is finally moving into the concert hall of our daily reality.
