Every brand at CES is enthusiastic about incorporating AI into your home, making it feel nearly inevitable. The primary question isn’t if you will embrace AI, but whether you lean towards it being minimal, wearable, in your refrigerator, or a charming companion.

Personally, I’d choose the last option, particularly Ludens AI’s conceptual companions Cocomo and INU. During CES 2026, the Japanese startup highlights AI companions for companionship rather than efficiency. Cocomo and INU aren’t intended to tidy your home, organize your schedule, or substitute your phone. Rather, they are designed to exist alongside you.

Engadget’s Karissa Bell caught a glimpse of it on the show floor at CES Unveiled.

Cocomo is the more ambitious of the two AI companions. Ludens AI portrays it as a daily robotic companion with a developing personality and memory, created to build a connection through shared routines instead of direct commands. It navigates with 10 degrees of freedom, utilizes expressive digital eyes, and depends on multi-sensory interaction — movement, sound, touch, and presence — for communication. The emphasis is on how Cocomo evolves with you, learning behaviors and responses over time, guaranteeing that no two experiences are quite alike.

INU, conversely, is purposefully smaller and more compact. Promoted as a “desktop alien dog,” it’s crafted to accompany you while you work, responding to voice, movement, and proximity with expressive motions and playful sounds. Its straightforwardness contributes to its appeal, as INU serves strictly as a desk companion.

Might the novelty of an expressive desk robot fade? Perhaps, but among the concepts at CES, Luden AI’s companions stand out as the most subtly captivating on the show floor.

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