We see plenty of far-out ideas on the CES show floor, and this year Razer brought in a concept piece called Project Motoko. The device is Razer's take on blurring the line between a gaming headset and an AI-powered wearable for daily life. Or it's a way for Ghost in the Shell fans to feel affronted by Razer taking The Major's name in vain, take your pick. 

Project Motoko is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon platforms. The headset has a pair of first-person view cameras positioned at eye level that can support real-time object and text recognition. It also has a wide field of attention that can capture things happening beyond the normal human eye's peripheral vision, and its microphone array is designed to capture both near and distant audio. In addition to taking in environmental details, Project Motoko can also operate as a wearable AI assistant, and the model is compatible with several different chatbots. The company's press release noted that it can integrate with Grok, OpenAI and Gemini.

"Project Motoko is more than a concept, it’s a vision for the future of AI and wearable computing," Nick Bourne, Razer's global head of mobile console division, said in the press release about the device. "By partnering with Qualcomm Technologies, we’re building a platform that enhances gameplay while transforming how technology integrates into everyday life. This is the next frontier for immersive experiences."

Sometimes concept designs we see at CES remain just that: thought experiments with no plan for commercial release. However, according to a rep from Razer: "Our goal is to bring this headset to market in the near future, with a dev-kit available first followed by a full retail release." It should be interesting to see if Razer does commit to Project Motoko in the longer term. Razer is also well-established as a brand for serious gamers, so seeing the company explore making an AI wearable that could appeal to a broader audience, if still a geeky one, is an intriguing move.

Update, January 6, 2026, 1:08PM ET: Added statement from Razer rep about future commercial prospects.

Just like last year, NVIDIA has used some of its time on the CES stage to introduce an upgraded version of its real-time image-upscaling technology. The new DLSS 4.5 promises sharper visuals with the 2nd Generation Super Resolution Transformer, which the company says will deliver better temporal stability, reduced ghosting and improved anti-aliasing. The DLSS 4.5 also includes Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, which maximizes frame per second to monitor refresh rate, delivering up to 4K 240Hz path traced performance.

The 2nd Gen Transformer Super Resolution is available now for all RTX GPUs, while the Dynamic 6x Frame Generation will arrive some time in spring 2026 for the RTX 50 series. It will also be available for more than 400 games through the NVIDIA app.  

Another new feature is RTX Remix Logic, which allows real-time environmental reactions to in-game events. For instance, when a door is opened on screen, the NVIDIA tech can present changes to volumetric conditions, display different weather simulations with particles or alter materials. More than 30 different common events can be detected, and the RTX Remix Logic can make adaptations to volumetrics, particles, material properties and light properties.

NVIDIA noted that it now has native clients for both Linux and Fire TV. That's the roundup of major gaming updates from the company's CES presentation, but NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang had plenty to talk about earlier today.

CES tends to bring a wave of news from chipmakers, and Qualcomm has used this year's event to announce the Snapdragon X2 Plus laptop processor. This is a more modest version of the flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite chip that Qualcomm unveiled in September. 

The Snapdragon X2 Elite will be available in the coming generation of Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs and its integrated Hexagon NPU can deliver the 80 TOPS performance benchmark for powering artificial intelligence tasks. The chip is also equipped with a third-generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU with either six cores or ten cores. For comparison, the Snapdragon X2 Elite gives options of either 12 or 18 cores. 

According to the company, this iteration of the CPU boasts up to 35 percent faster single-core performance compared with the previous generation. It also says the six-core model has up to 10 percent faster multi-core performance over the prior model, while the ten-core option has up to 17 percent better multi-core performance. Both versions of the Snapdragon X2 Plus come with an Adreno GPU that has improved performance up to 29 percent over the past iteration.

For CES this year, JBL has added three new gaming headsets to its JBL Quantum product lineup. JBL Quantum 950X is the latest set of flagship headphones from the brand, with 50mm carbon dynamic drivers and features such as spatial audio, 3D head tracking and active noise cancelation. The set is compatible with PC, consoles and mobile platforms through 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.3 or wired connection. The 950X has a pair of hot-swappable and rechargeable batteries that give 50 hours of playtime. It comes with a 6mm cardioid boom microphone that uses AI noise reduction to keep background sounds out of in-game communication. The headset will retail for $400 and will be available starting in April 2026.

The other two new products are the JBL Quantum 650X and the JBL Quantum 250. The wireless 650X also has 50mm carbon dynamic drivers, spatial sound and the same connectivity options as the 950X. It has an expected battery life of 45 hours. The less expensive 650X will also be available in April and will retail for $200. The JBL Quantum 250 is a wired headset with many of the same drivers and features as the other two products. It has black and white model options, and will cost $80. This third model will be available starting March 2026.