12/01/2026

LYFE MONDAY | JAN 12, 2026

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Longer wait for humanoid servants

o Despite impressive advances, huge interest, obstacles hold AI-powered robots back from entering mainstream consumer market for now

AI companies are on the hunt to design the ideal device to deliver AI’s superpowers, and some new enterprises are convinced that headphones or earbuds are the way. Startups have for a while tried to beef up headphones beyond their basic functions, such as listening to music and making phone calls. Nearly a decade ago, tech startups Waverly Labs and Mymanu added real-time translation to that list, and Google quickly followed suit, creating a voice-activated AI assistant in 2020. Riding the AI wave, other tech industry leaders Samsung and Apple have also entered the fray, with noise cancellation now almost a product standard. Startups, many of which attended last week’s CES consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas, are now trying to refine this technology and apply it to specific uses. Such is the case with Oso, which wants to take the concept of a professional assistant further. Its earbuds will record meetings and retrieve conversation elements on demand using everyday language. Viaim, a competitor, offers similar services and intends to focus on interoperability in a world controlled by major smartphone manufacturers that impose their own platforms. “If you use a different brand of cell phone, it doesn’t have any AI J UST four years after the launch of ChatGPT, the chatbot that brought artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream, and it seemed like almost every exhibitor at the CES show in Las Vegas last week was touting an AI-powered gadget. The annual event drew the biggest companies from the global tech and auto industries who this year underscored the shift from AI software to “physical AI” with robotics, humanoids and autonomous driving technology. And while big tech laid out the blueprint for what lives and homes could look like over the next couple of years, dozens of entrepreneurs and little-known companies vied to capture attention with AI-powered doodads for tasks as varied as cutting hair and offering emotional support. Amid all the pizzazz, investors and analysts had the task of predicting which AI-imbued hardware has the potential to be a hit with consumers and become a multi-billion-dollar business. “AI is really driving a whole innovation and demand cycle,” said Arm’s Chris Bergey, head of the chip

functions at all. That’s the opportunity for our earbuds,” explained Shawn Ma, CEO of Viaim, whose devices are compatible with all brands, including iPhones in China. Timekettle, meanwhile, is enjoying success in a completely different context, with “90% of its sales coming from schools”, according to Brian Shircliffe, head of US sales for the Chinese company. Many schools equip their non English-speaking students with the devices so they can follow lessons without the need for a translator. Reading minds As for whether earbuds can replace smart glasses, connected speakers or even smartphones as the dominant physical extension of generative AI, remains unanswered. For now, any AI functionality “is really dependent on the phone that it’s connected to”, said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. “Earbuds are certainly a more accessible entry for AI than smart glasses. They’re a lot less expensive, they’re a product most smartphone users are buying anyway, and they don’t require a prescription,” said Avi Greengart, president of Techsponential, a consultancy. However, “people generally don’t wear them all the time”, unlike glasses, “and they can only interact with voice, so you’ll need to be in an environment where talking is acceptable”, the analyst cautioned, tech firm’s unit that handles PCs, phones and other AI gadgets. Arm said that it has reorganised to create a physical AI unit to expand its presence in the robotics market. Interest in humanoid robots has boomed as companies see human form machines as the next frontier in AI and automation. At CES – once called the Consumer Electronics Show – robots from South Korea’s LG and others dealt games of poker, folded paper to create pinwheels and danced with attendees. However, the glacial pace at which humanoid robots performed tasks reflected challenges developers face such as processing power, battery life and dealing with situations beyond their programming. As such, experts do not expect a viable humanoid to be available anytime soon, at least not at an affordable price. AI hardware, software working together China’s Lenovo hosted a splashy event at the Las Vegas Sphere that featured Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and rival chipmaker AMD boss Lisa

The PaXini Tora Double One humanoid robot makes a hand heart gesture as it is demonstrated during the CES.

Chips under the hood Most AI applications run on the cloud but will likely move to run on devices due to cost, which will require specialised functions built into each chip. “Unless you’ve been living under a rock over 2025, you probably heard that AI is getting really expensive,” Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas said at an Intel launch event. Intel PC chips business head Jim Johnson likewise told of companies’ enormous and growing data crunching costs in the cloud. The US chipmaker launched its Panther Lake AI chip for laptops, the first product made using a next generation manufacturing process called 18A. Compatriot AMD announced a set of processors designed for AI PCs. AI can make PCs run more efficiently in terms of speed, battery life and security, for instance. Less clear is whether consumers will flock to purchase them. “I think the general consumer is still not aware of what an AI PC really means or what it can do for them that they can’t do today. Hopefully that will become more clear over time,” CEO Ben Bajarin of tech consultancy Creative Strategies said. – Reuters

Su. Lenovo, the world’s largest personal computer maker, unveiled its Qira AI voice assistant platform designed to work across devices and provide services from the likes of travel company Expedia. Meta said it has enhanced its Ray-Ban Display and Neural Band

products – both launched last year – with features such as live recording, and Alphabet’s Google launched its AI model Gemini for TVs and other home devices. Then there were the more utilitarian devices given an AI makeover among gadgets that appeared to be more of a gimmick. Among the more frivolous offerings were gadgets containing three-dimensional avatars which employed AI to say “sweet things” in different voices, and a pocket pet with a personality that its makers said uses AI to grow and change with its owner. One company showed off an AI dry cleaning apparatus priced at US$599 (RM2,443) that it said could detect a garment’s material and clean it appropriately in three minutes. Another showcased a set of hair clippers that use AI to help cut people’s locks. After viewing a batch of AI enhanced lawnmowers, massage chairs, mattresses and other household items, Seaport Research analyst Jay Goldberg said many of those gadgets were previously referred to as “smart” devices and that companies may have adopted the AI moniker as a marketing tactic.

From music to mind reading: AI startups bet on earbuds to do more for users

adding that the lack of a camera limits the device’s potential. Some will not be constrained by the shortcoming, notably Naqi Logix, whose Neural Earbuds are equipped with ultra-sensitive sensors that detect tiny movements. Thanks to these sensors, a quadriplegic user can control their wheelchair or surf the internet simply by looking at their computer screen. Operations manager Sandeep Arya sees great potential for these innovations,“because people would like to be able to interact with their environment in a more discreet, subtle way,” without having to call out to Siri on their smartphone, Alexa on their speaker or Meta on their glasses. Arya envisions the technology going further, thanks to improved sensors capable of deciphering facial movements that a chatbot can use to find the right tone and words according to mood. Neurable, another startup whose MW75 Neuro LT headset measures brain activity, dreams of using its equipment to enable communication through thought, without gestures or words. “It’s remarkable,” said Ben Wood of these breakthroughs, “but it’s still a niche market for now”. Until further notice, “the hundreds of millions of headphones that have been sold will remain focused on listening”. – AFP

Attendees look at SwitchBot’s Kata Friends, AI companions with a camera nose that are designed to interact with users through voice, gestures and cloud AI. – ALL PICS FROM AFP