CES 2026, Lenovo accende Las Vegas: l’IA va in scena come un grande show

A moment from Gwen Stefani’s concert that concluded Lenovo Tech World 

At the Sphere in Las Vegas, technology took center stage for one night, within a structure that is an effect in itself: a shell standing 112 meters tall and 157 meters wide, covered on the outside with over 54,000 square meters of LED, and featuring an internal screen with a 16K resolution that compels the audience to look up to see where it ends.

In the same venue where productions and residencies like those of U2, Eagles, and the Backstreet Boys typically occur, Lenovo staged its headline event: long lines outside, followed by a breathtaking view of a packed arena: nearly 15,000 individuals seated in front of a massive convex surface designed to turn every video into an immersive experience.

In this micro-universe bathed in red – the color associated with the Chinese multinational that dominates the personal computer market – the Lenovo Tech World took place, a major event on the sidelines of CES, the world’s most significant consumer electronics fair.

At the foot of the gigantic LED wall, Yang Yuanqing emerged from the only tiny opening that interrupts the luminous surface. It is a stark black rectangle reminiscent of the one crossed by Jim Carrey at the end of The Truman Show, when he traverses the artificial sky to return to reality.

Shrouded in a dense and uniform red light, Lenovo’s CEO appeared on stage like an astronaut who has just landed on Mars.

After all, the era we are living in feels like pure science fiction: we converse naturally with machines. And computers genuinely seem to understand us, although they lack any form of consciousness.

The New Era of Hybrid AI

Yuanqing joined Lenovo in 1989. Twenty years later, he became CEO. Once again, he is tasked with embodying the company’s direction as the industry seeks to establish the grammar of personal computing in the age of AI.

In his opening speech, Yuanqing outlined an evolution of artificial intelligence that transcends text, code, or image generation, describing it as a technology that “perceives our three-dimensional world, understands how things move and connect” and learns from human complexity.

For Lenovo’s CEO, this transformation is “deeply personal,” as AI refines intuition and creativity by drawing from a unique source: “language, habits, experiences, and memories.” In this sense, AI can “automate, elevate, and maximize human potential.”

On a corporate level, according to Yuanqing, the impact is even more radical: AI does not merely optimize processes; it empowers organizations to utilize their operational data, learn their flows, and apply their decision-making logic to “create value and evolve as learning and reinventing entities.”

Hence the notion of a new chapter where the digital and physical worlds converge. Yuanqing emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all model: “every person is unique, every organization is different,” and generic AI based on public information is no longer sufficient.

Lenovo’s response, he explained, is a personal AI built around individuals and a business AI tailored to the value chains of companies. Along with public AI, these components define what the Chinese multinational refers to as “a new era: hybrid AI.”

To better illustrate and explain this new era, Lenovo’s CEO invited one of the key figures in the AI race to the stage: Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia.

Lenovo’s New AI Cloud Giga Factory

In their on-stage dialogue, Yang Yuanqing and Jensen Huang characterized the current phase of artificial intelligence as a platform shift comparable to the major transitions that have marked the IT industry since the 1980s.

Huang recalled how he and Yuanqing met “at the dawn of the PC revolution,” traversing through the internet, cloud, and mobile, to what he now calls a new platform: “applications built on AI.”

In this perspective, artificial intelligence becomes the foundational layer of computing, “almost an operating system,” with large language models set to serve as the basis for future applications.

The scope of the change, Huang emphasized, is even deeper because it reinvents the entire technology stack: from traditional applications running on CPUs to AI systems functioning on GPUs, necessitating modernization of investments accumulated over decades in the IT industry.

This transition opens, according to Huang, “trillion-dollar opportunities,” driven by accelerated computing, generative AI, and now agent-based AI, in a context where the size of models and the number of tokens grow at exponential rates, especially with the expansion of inference and reasoning systems.

Yuanqing noted that Lenovo’s vision is “completely aligned” with that of Nvidia. He reminded that at Tech World 2025, the two companies had jointly presented the concept of hybrid AI, announcing joint innovations almost quarterly since then.

The new chapter of this partnership, Yuanqing explained, is the launch of the Lenovo AI Cloud Giga Factory with Nvidia, based on the Vera Rubin platform unveiled by Huang just before CES.

Huang emphasized that this initiative showcases a often underappreciated expertise of Lenovo: the ability to design, build, and install complex systems on a global scale, noting that “one-third of the world’s top 500 supercomputers are built by Lenovo.”

The aim, said the Nvidia CEO, is to transform that experience into a product, enabling customers to transition “from computers to AI factories” as quickly as possible.

Strengthening the partnership is also the Neptune liquid cooling technology, which according to both CEOs makes Lenovo “the only company capable of combining internal design, in-house manufacturing, and global services at this scale,” a key element in operationalizing, materializing, and industrializing the vision of hybrid AI.

Qira, AI Becomes Personal

The conversation with Huang set the stage for one of the evening’s most significant announcements: the introduction of a personal AI named Qira. While presenting it, Yang Yuanqing described it as “our first personal AI super agent,” clarifying that in China it is known as Tianxi and that it will be “orchestrated across all devices” to offer a truly customized artificial intelligence experience.

According to Lenovo’s CEO, it all starts with perception: through sensors, wearable devices like glasses and smart pendants, and environmental technologies such as cameras for meeting rooms, the personal AI “will see what you see and feel what you feel,” always with the user’s consent.

This phase is followed by collaboration, made possible through PCs, tablets, and smartphones, via which Qira assists in planning, preparing, and communicating, evolving as it learns. The core of this journey is what Yuanqing described as a “private AI computer.”

Over time, the CEO stated, the personal AI evolves into “a cognitive partner,” capable of thinking and acting in increasingly close alignment with the user.

In Lenovo’s vision, Qira redefines what it means to have technology built around people: it operates on phones, PCs, tablets, and wearables, is available wherever AI is needed, and functions seamlessly across different platforms, from Windows to Android.

The Concept of “Personal Ambient Intelligence”

In Lenovo’s framework, Qira appears as “Lenovo Qira” on Lenovo products and as “Motorola Qira” on Motorola devices, featuring the same unified intelligence behind different interfaces. It is an AI that the company describes as “personal ambient intelligence”: not merely an assistant to query, but an ever-active layer that tries to maintain context, activities, and data as the user transitions from one device to another.

Qira, Lenovo explains, can proactively suggest, respond instantly when called upon, or remain silent in the background until needed, adapting to each user’s preferences. It activates naturally by saying “Hey, Qira,” pressing a dedicated button, or tapping a quick command on the screen.

The significance of this announcement was further clarified a few minutes later by Luca Rossi, President of Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group, who explained how Qira ushers in a new era of personal AI, designed around users and based on trust and total control over their data.

A Super Agent AI for Every Device

Rossi emphasized that this super agent can operate seamlessly across laptops, smartphones, and wearables, transforming artificial intelligence from a passive tool into a powerful distinguishing element in the real world.

Luca Rossi also showcased a Motorola concept. A small pendant, equipped with an integrated camera and speaker, that allows users to wear AI and query it at any moment.

To discuss the future of wearable devices in the AI era, Cristiano Amon, CEO and President of Qualcomm, took the stage, whose Snapdragon chips provide the necessary computing power for computers, smartphones, and smart glasses to perform complex tasks.

Amon described the emergence of a new class of devices destined to transform the daily relationship with technology. These are smart wearable devices that become “the true personal AI device,” always active and contextual companions capable of reacting in real-time and bridging the physical and digital worlds.

The Value of Data in the Era of AI-Equipped Wearables

The key point, emphasized Qualcomm’s CEO, is data management: with the user’s consent, these devices will have access to relevant personal information, deciding what remains on the device and what is processed in the cloud.

For Amon, the market potential for wearables is enormous, with a trajectory that could lead to tens of millions of devices within a few years.

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This vision is made possible by the evolution of Snapdragon, which is required to combine compact size, energy efficiency, and enough computing power to run locally billion-parameter models while maintaining advanced connectivity. Qualcomm refers to technologies capable of using Wi-Fi with consumption similar to Bluetooth, up to cellular connectivity, to stay always connected to your AI agent.

At the core of everything, Amon explained, is an “always on” low-power architecture, where AI operates on the device and in the cloud according to a hybrid model.

Here emerges the broader strategic vision: the value of edge data. Data generated close to the user, in real-time, provides a unique and difficult-to-replicate context. Amon, in this regard, ventured a prediction: “I believe that anyone who can leverage edge data and provide something relevant to the user will be the winner in the AI race.”

Data, inevitably, brings up the issue of governance. Lenovo, in this regard, focuses on a “privacy-first hybrid AI architecture” that allows the user to choose between on-device processing and cloud computing.

This setup should enable Qira to become a “companion” that acts when needed, without turning into an opaque infrastructure.

Qira and Copilot, a Possible Coexistence

But how will Qira integrate into the Microsoft operating system, the OS for personal computers produced by the company led by Yuanqing? How will it coexist with Copilot, the chatbot from the Redmond giant that recently earned a dedicated key on computer keyboards?

To explain this, Luca Rossi engaged in a conversation on stage with Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft.

Mehdi framed Qira as the convergence point between Lenovo’s ecosystem and Redmond technologies. “We are excited to bring all the power of Microsoft technology into Lenovo Qira,” he stated, explaining that Azure and Windows Extend will provide “the most advanced AI models and infrastructure” to ensure consistent performance wherever users utilize their devices.

The goal, Mehdi added, is an increasing integration between Copilot and Qira to deliver “smarter, more intuitive, and natural experiences” capable of unifying the cross-device experience.

Mehdi reminded that over the past two years, Lenovo and Microsoft have “completely reimagined the PC from the inside out,” from functionality to design, to naturally integrate AI into the workflow.

Interaction, he explained, starts from voice and text, with a PC “smart enough to understand context” thanks to features like Copilot Voice and Copilot Vision, always with the user’s consent. AI can thus suggest, assist, and adapt to what appears on the screen, combining on-device processing to ensure privacy and low latency with the power of the cloud.

Looking ahead, Rossi stressed the importance of a seamless experience between phone and PC. Mehdi responded by highlighting the recent integration of Copilot on Motorola smartphones as one of the most significant developments: from message synchronization to direct access to the Copilot app from the home screen, to a more expressive and customizable interface.

“People live across multiple devices and expect continuity,” Mehdi concluded, asserting that Lenovo and Motorola, together with Microsoft, are “in a unique position” to build truly integrated experiences between PC and mobile.

Lisa Su, CEO of AMD: “We Are Living in a New Era of Computing”

When Yang Yuanqing returned to the stage, he called upon one of the “architects” of AI, celebrated by Time as “Person of the Year” alongside many other innovators in the AI race: Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, who this year opened CES 2026 with her keynote.

To the audience present at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Su stated that we are experiencing “a new era of computing,” where AI becomes a capability distributed everywhere, from data centers to the edge.

For businesses, she explained, AI must be “open, efficient, and trustworthy,” executable in the cloud, on-prem, and at the edge, with freedom of choice among different CPUs, GPUs, and accelerators, because “there is no one-size-fits-all answer.”

With the acceleration of demand for inference and the growing size of models, Su pointed to rack-scale AI infrastructure as a key element, announcing that Lenovo will be among the first system vendors to adopt the Helios architecture from AMD.

Su’s final message was strategic: the future of computing will hinge on deep collaboration within the ecosystem and the ability for customers to deploy AI where it creates the most value.

FIFA and the AI World Cup

The conclusion of Lenovo Tech World was dedicated to the partnership between Lenovo and FIFA, in anticipation of the upcoming soccer World Cup to be held this year in North America.

Yang Yuanqing explained how Lenovo’s technological solutions already assist referees in offside decisions “with confidence and almost without delays,” introduce player avatars powered by AI for a more realistic representation, and make it possible to observe the game from another angle thanks to the stabilization of images from body cameras worn by referees.

Finally, Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, took the stage, describing the 2026 World Cup as “the greatest show ever seen on the planet,” with seven million spectators expected in stadiums and up to six billion people in front of screens worldwide.

Infantino announced that FIFA and Lenovo “will fully embrace artificial intelligence” through Football AI, a platform designed to support teams, referees, and fans.

The first piece is Football AI Pro, a generative AI-based assistant that, according to Infantino, “will democratize access to data” providing advanced analytics to all 48 participating nations and later to fans as well.

“This is just the beginning,” Infantino said, discussing future developments aimed at making