I love a weird and quirky CES, and Razer catered exactly to me. I first saw Razer’s Project AVA at CES 2025. So Razer announced an AI tool to assist with gaming, but it didn’t seem entirely sure what direction it would take.
How wrong we were!
At CES 2026, Razer announced AVA, a fully equipped visual AI desk companion that learns everything you do, not just your gaming preferences. While AVA is still highly integrated with gaming, Razer is focusing on a more general user with the idea that “enthusiasts” will always be there for them.
Razer unveils Anime Girl in a Bottle at CES 2026
Project AVA is stepping into the “real” world
Razer showed off some big changes to the AVA at CES 2026. First, AVA is no longer limited to screens. AVA is housed in a 5.5-inch holographic pod that sits on your desk and is always by your side.
Although still connected to your computer via a USB-C cable, the new capsule enclosure includes a microphone, speaker, and HD camera for tracking your surroundings, so you can now interact with your AVA without talking to your computer as an intermediary. And inside the housing is a hologram you can interact with, including asking questions about the latest news, directions, local event information, and more.
However, AVA has not lost its integration with gaming. You can also ask the AI avatar in the tube to choose or optimize new loadouts for Battlefield 6. AVA can also make suggestions for things like the game’s mouse polling rate.
The AVA demo we saw was running xAI’s Grok to answer questions. We were pleasantly surprised by how responsive the AI tool was, answering specific questions about CES such as where the Razer booth was on the floor, what was worth seeing at the show, and some interesting announcements.
You can also choose another AI tool if you want something different. Razer has made it AVA platform independent, so you can switch if you prefer ChatGPT responsiveness. You have the option to choose whatever you want, which is great. No one wants to be tied to a specific AI tool. Custom LLMs may also be supported in the future, which will add even more customization to AVA.
Choose your AI avatar
Customizable AI avatars also available
One of the fun and weird things about AVA is that it’s now a visual AI, not just something on your PC. It shows in its holographic avatar, which Razer offers not just a tool, but a proper AI companion. The company seems to envision this as an AI tool that lives with you, rather than just being involved during the game.
For example, Razer showed a video of a man using AVA around the house and asked for tips and suggestions for things like cooking. AVA avatars are always enthusiastic and responsive (it’s AI!) and try to help you with every little task.
AVA’s pre-made avatars include Kira, an anime-style waifu-type female character, Zane, a more muscular male character similar to the “Giga Chad” meme, and Faker, a legendary esports player sponsored by Razer. Although each of them has their own unique personality, some of their speaking styles and manners are the same, and dare I say, they can be a bit difficult. Asking questions often adds a bit of banter and flavor to the conversation, but many of the comments have a very teenage feel to them.
I may be showing my age a little, but as a man approaching 40, I don’t need any unnecessary comments. Perhaps there is a way to turn these bits off, but the demo didn’t show it.
What I find particularly interesting about AVA is that Razer isn’t positioning it as a gaming product. Yes, it has RGB and is clearly a Razer product, but the company is touting it as a “friend for life” who will be there for you and help you with every decision.
This can be seen in their conversations and responses. Razer has created the appearance of the AVA as a cute anime girl who lives next door to you, giggling and blushing when you respond, acting as if you have a real relationship. I can’t decide if it’s weird that Razer is pushing this cute anime girl, or if I’m actually overthinking it and this is just a normal progression in technology. I mean, people are talking to ChatGPT and Gemini all the time, so why can’t we express it visually?
I won’t knock until you really try it
As with most technology, I reserve full judgment until I’ve tried it properly at home. A quick demo on the CES 2026 show floor is helpful, but it doesn’t give you the full experience. And it oscillates between something potentially very useful and a very weird parasocial AI anime girl vibe, so it’s best to wait until you pass a full comment.
You can reserve access Razer’s Project AVA Although priced at $20, there was no official final price for the AI project, nor was a specific release date revealed, sometime in the second half of 2026. I think the price will be similar to other Razer hardware, around $200.