At CES 2026, held in Las Vegas from January 6 to 9, the most prominent keyword was undoubtedly Physical AI. While previous generations of AI focused primarily on language models and data analysis, this year’s exhibition highlighted a new stage in which artificial intelligence acquires a physical body and performs direct interactions in real-world environments.

Physical AI refers to artificial intelligence that is integrated with robots, sensors, and autonomous systems to perceive real-world environments, make judgments, and translate those decisions into physical actions. With advances in AI technology, systems are now capable of learning physical laws in real time, enabling robots to operate in complex and unstructured environments while achieving human-like balance and manipulation capabilities.

As a result, robots demonstrated the ability to recognize their surroundings in real time through the integration of sensor technologies and AI models, moving beyond simply repeating predefined motions to adjusting their behavior according to situational changes. This represented a level at which machines can understand physical conditions and make decisions that balance safety and efficiency without human intervention.

The potential of Physical AI was especially evident in the manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics sectors. The commercialization-ready version of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, along with humanoid robots unveiled by global big-tech companies, demonstrated that Physical AI has moved beyond the experimental stage and is approaching practical, real-world development.

CES 2026 made it clear that artificial intelligence is no longer confined to screens and digital spaces but is now fully entering the physical world. Physical AI is no longer a vision of the distant future; it is rapidly establishing itself as a core force that will fundamentally transform how we live and work in the years ahead.

하승연 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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