WHAT’S INSIDE:

• Consumer Tech: Nvidia's Alpamayo autonomous vehicles; Amazon Alexa.com web AI; Plaud AI pin; HP Omnibook; Galaxy Book 6 series

  Art/Culture: Creators Coalition on AI; Avatar hits $1B in 18 days; major film franchises in 2026; Critics Choice Awards

  Food/Drink: GE Profile smart fridge; Hyphen's automated makelines; 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines; Restaurant Struggles

  Sports: Pongbot's Pace S Pro AI tennis trainer; NFL wild-card matchups set; futuristic stadiums; MLB lockout; 2026 predictions

  Futurism: LG's ClOiD AI home robot; neuromorphic artificial skin; China's fusion plasma breakthrough + more

  Wellness: NIH settlement; NK cells for cancer therapy; Withings Body Scan 2; AI drug development; Alibaba's PANDA AI

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WISPR FLOW

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The net effect is less time drafting and editing, smoother handoffs across teams, and more time to focus on strategy and execution.

CONSUMER TECH:

Sony Honda Mobility unveiled the pre-production Afeela 1 sedan and a new electric SUV prototype at CES 2026, highlighting their ambitions in the EV market. The Afeela 1, priced at $89,990, will launch in California and Arizona in 2026.

Alexa Goes Web — Amazon launches Alexa.com, bringing its AI assistant online focusing on family needs like calendar management. The Alexa app is updated for a chatbot experience.

Plaud's AI Innovations — Plaud unveils a new AI pin and desktop meeting notetaker aiming to enhance productivity by integrating AI technology into everyday tasks and meetings.

WEEKEND CRYPTOGRAM:

[Open Deal] The WYDE $EAT Token Open Deal

We have been shouting from the rooftops these past few weeks about Wyoming Decentralized Exchange (WYDE), marking it as one of the key innovators we see in the crypto and blockchain sector as well as in the wider charity and impact space.

Since we first covered WYDE pre-launch in December, its first Impact Token, $EAT (End Hunger) has gone on to reach over a $10 Million market cap, while already funding over 4000 meals for registered charities helping to combat food insecurity in the US. Here they are pitching Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong the concept, jump into the thread and help them to get his attention.

CES 2026 Consumer Tech Highlights From Las Vegas

TechBuzz Feature

Nvidia unveiled the physical AI era with its Rubin chips to replace Blackwell later this year, plus Alpamayo AI models offering Reasoning AI for Cars. The 10B-parameter open-source model aims to enable cars to navigate via reasoning. Jensen Huang also announced new open models for agentic AI, physical AI, and healthcare.

Samsung introduced its 'AI Living' vision, focusing on integrating AI across its product ecosystem to enhance everyday life and democratize AI by embedding AI in double the current number consumer devices this year. It won a CES Innovation Award for Spatial Signage, with a glasses-free 3D display featuring an ultra-slim 52mm profile with an 85-inch frame, adding multidimensional depth to 2D content. Samsung's Galaxy Book 6 series also dropped with Intel's Panther Lake chips, enhanced displays, and AI productivity features, better performance and battery life.

Boston Dynamics revealed its next-gen Atlas humanoid robot is ready for mass-production and will use Nvidia processing and Google DeepMind technology over competing platforms, signaling major partnerships reshaping robotics

Lenovo and NVIDIA unveiled a vision for AI-native devices featuring Lenovo Qira as a personal ambient intelligence system across various devices including a new Motorola foldable phone and a wearable with on-device AI capabilities.

Amazon expanded Alexa+ across web browsers and new Fire TVs, while Ring added fire alerts and third-party app stores.

AMD launched Ryzen AI 400 Series processors designed to bring generative AI capabilities directly to consumer laptops and gaming rigs

Rokid launched display-free AI smartglasses called "Style", designed for all-day use and compatible with corrective prescriptions. They support multiple AI engines, including ChatGPT at $300.

HP's Ultra-Durable Omnibook — The Omnibook Ultra 14 is a 0.42-inch thick laptop with 20 military standard tests for durability + a 3K OLED display and up to 64GB RAM, starts at $1,550.

Read More on The Tech Buzz

ARTS & CULTURE

Hollywood AI Governance — The Creators Coalition on AI launched by over 500 artists, including Daniel Kwan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, aims to establish industry standards for transparency and ethical AI use.

Universal Music Group has partnered with Nvidia to use the Music Flamingo AI model, which processes music tracks and understands nuances like song structure and emotional arcs. They plan a dedicated artist incubator to develop artist tools.

Avatar Hits $1 Billion — James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash surpasses $1 billion globally in 18 days, driven by strong international sales, marking his fourth billion-dollar film.

2026 Box Office Predictions — Major film franchises like "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" and "Toy Story 5" are expected to succeed, while original films face marketability challenges amid superhero fatigue and streaming preferences.

2026 Critics Choice Awards — The Critics Choice Awards honored "One Battle After Another" as Best Picture, with Paul Thomas Anderson winning Best Director, highlighting significant achievements in film.

FOOD & DRINK TECH:

Smart Fridge Revolution — The GE Profile smart fridge features a built-in barcode scanner tracking over 4M products via the SmartHQ app, and a live camera feed. Hands-free operation. April 2026 for $4,899.

Automated Makeline Boost — Chipotle and Cava invest in Hyphen's automated makelines to improve efficiency and service. Hyphen's tech accelerates food prep and reduces labor and waste.

New Dietary Guidelines Preview — The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines will emphasize whole foods, urging more proteins, fruits, veggies, and dairy while reducing ultra-processed foods.

At CES 2026, John Deere emphasized data-driven agriculture with its "Operation Center" technology, which synthesizes real-time machine data with environmental conditions and powers a range of autonomous and battery-electric machines. 

Restaurants Rising Costs — Menu prices are up, operators struggle with lower traffic and increased costs, relying on AI for personalized offerings and promotions. Industry consolidation may increase.

West Virginia Color Law — A district court issued a preliminary injunction against a 2025 law banning synthetic colors in food, citing it as unconstitutionally vague.

SPORTS & TECH DESK:

Tennis Tech — Pongbot unveiled the Pace S Pro, an AI-powered tennis trainer using UWB tracking and Recovery Trigger tech to adapt in real-time, synchronizing drills with match rhythms.

NFL Playoff Showdown — The Pittsburgh Steelers secure a wild-card spot to face the Houston Texans. Other matchups: Rams vs. Panthers, Packers vs. Bears, Bills vs. Jaguars, and 49ers vs. Eagles.

Futuristic Football Stadiums — Man. U and Birmingham City plan cutting-edge stadiums with holographic players and virtual seating like Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

2026 Sports Forecast — Expect an MLB lockout over salary caps, expanded NCAA tournaments, and AI in sports storytelling. The NBA might relocate the Pelicans, while Saudi PIF could acquire a global sports franchise.

Record-Breaking NFL Stream — The Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings Christmas game set a new US streaming record with 27.5M viewers. Netflix broadcast, featuring Snoop Dogg's halftime show, saw viewership of 30.5M.

Sports 2026 Crystal Ball — Predictions for 2026 include fragmented live sports rights, a timely WNBA season, potential insider-trading scandals, and private equity in college sports. Expect NFL expansion, political hurdles for the World Cup.

FUTURISM:

LG Robot — LG introduces ClOiD, an AI-powered home robot performing chores like cooking and laundry. It features articulated arms, autonomous navigation, and connects via the ThinQ ecosystem.

Neuromorphic Skin — Researchers develop neuromorphic artificial skin for robots, utilizing spiking circuitry for pressure detection to identify pressure locations and trigger reflex-like responses.

Breakthrough in Fusion — China's EAST achieves a "density-free regime" in fusion plasma experiments, surpassing traditional density limits without instability. Could lead to fusion ignition.

DNA in Mosquitoes — Research shows mosquitoes can provide a detailed ecological snapshot by analyzing DNA from their blood meals, identifying 86 animal species and covering 80% of known vertebrates in the area.

Fungus Outsmarts Beetles — The fungus Beauveria bassiana detoxifies spruce bark beetles' phenolic defenses, enhancing infection. Could improve biological pest control.

WELLBEING AND HEALTH TECH:

Vaccine Schedule Shakeup — The U.S. is reducing its childhood vaccine recommendations from 17 to 11, following Denmark's model. Universal recommendations for Covid-19 and flu vaccines are dropped, sparking debate.

ChatGPT Health — OpenAI unveils a version of its chatbot that connects to medical records and wellness apps for personalized health advice. The service, developed with 260 physicians, prioritizes privacy and aims to enhance AI's role in healthcare.

NIH Grant Settlement — A settlement funds 135 out of 146 NIH grant renewals, aiming to speed up evaluations amid concerns of political influence.

$4 Refills — Utah has launched a first-in-the-nation pilot allowing AI to autonomously renew certain prescriptions without a doctor involved. The program, run with startup Doctronic, covers 190 common medications for chronic conditions.

SleepFM is a new AI foundation model from Stanford researchers that can predict over 130 health conditions like dementia, heart attacks, and Parkinson's from a single overnight sleep recording.

NK Cell Breakthrough — Chinese researchers have developed a new method for mass-producing engineered natural killer (NK) cells from cord blood-derived stem cells, enhancing cancer immunotherapy efficiency.

Smart Scale Upgrade — Withings unveils the Body Scan 2, tracking 60 biomarkers with advanced heart and metabolic health tests. Launching Q2 2026 for $599.95, it offers health insights via a validated AI model.

PANDA's Detection Leap — Alibaba's PANDA AI tool identifies early-stage pancreatic cancer in routine CT scans, boosting early detection rates.

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