Razer put a waifu in a bottle at CES 2026

Final 12 months Razer confirmed off Venture Ava as a digital assistant that lived inside your pc to assist modify settings or present gaming ideas. However now at CES 2026, the corporate’s AI companion platform has gotten a serious glow-up whereas transferring into some new digs.

Now, in lieu of being constrained solely to your PC’s display, Razer has given Venture Ava an actual dwelling within the type of a small tube that may show a 5.5-inch animated hologram of the AI’s avatar. You’ll nonetheless want to attach it to your pc through USB-C to offer Ava with the ability and information it wants. Nevertheless, your whole companion’s different elements are constructed into its abode, together with twin far-field mics so you may speak to it, a down-firing full-range speaker so it could actually speak and an HD digicam with an ambient mild sensor so the AI can see and react to its environment.

However maybe the largest improve to the challenge is that as a substitute of simply Ava, who Razer describes as “a relaxed, dependable supply of power that can assist you hold issues clear, environment friendly, and all the time on level,” there are three or 4 new personas (relying on how we’re counting) becoming a member of the roster. Kira seems like a TikTok e-girl decked out in a frilly outfit full with Razer neon inexperienced accents, whereas Zane is her edgy masculine various who sort of jogs my memory of the Giga Chad meme, however with further snake tattoos. Then there’s Sao, who seems to be immediately impressed by iconic Japanese wage lady Saori Araki. Lastly, there’s an avatar made within the likeness of Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok), essentially the most profitable and well-known League of Legends participant of all time and certainly one of Razer’s sponsored esports athletes.

The concept now could be that as a substitute of being trapped inside your pc, Ava or certainly one of Razer’s different personas can sit in your desk and be your companion for all the things. They will remind you of upcoming occasions, reply to questions and even remark in your outfit utilizing Razer’s built-in digicam. That stated, if you happen to want some privateness, the gadget’s mics may be muted and the corporate says its planning on placing a bodily digicam shutter on last retail fashions. After all, Ava or any of the opposite avatars can nonetheless hang around whilst you recreation and offer you recommendation. Throughout my demo, Kira helped pick a loadout in Battlefield 6 primarily based on person standards and even supplied professionals and cons for a number of the recreation’s different gear choices.

Sadly, whereas I did get to see Kira and Zane speak, dance and sway of their little bottles, Sao and Faker weren’t fairly able to make their holographic debuts. However based on Razer, that’s kind of by design as Venture Ava could be very a lot a piece in progress. At present, the avatars’ responses are generated by X AI’s Grok (yikes!), however the platform was created as a kind of open-source challenge that may help different fashions like Gemini or ChatGPT.

Down the road, Razer is hoping so as to add the power for customers to create their very own distinctive avatars and companions primarily based on their enter or inspiration from real-world objects. In the meantime, for avatars like Faker’s as a result of he’s additionally an precise individual, Razer needs further time to make the AI companion useful with subjects like real-time League of Legends teaching.

That stated, whereas some people may discover Venture Ava a bit bizarre or unnerving, it truly feels fairly tame (virtually cute even) in an period the place individuals are already marrying their AI companions. And if you happen to’re the sort of one that prefers digital companions over flesh-and-blood alternate options (, individuals), I suppose it’s sort of good to have a extra tangible illustration of your digital waifus and husbandos.

Sadly, Razer has not supplied full pricing for Venture Ava’s holographic peripheral, although a consultant stated that it will likely be in the identical ballpark as the corporate’s different peripherals. I’m estimating a last price of round $200. Reservations for Venture Ava are presently reside with a $20 deposit earlier than official shipments start someday within the second half of 2026.