LAS VEGAS — The CES 2026 tech fair has raised critical alarm bells for Korea’s tech firms, signaling that long-term growth cannot rely merely on superficial hype over artificial intelligence (AI) and software in this rapidly evolving era of physical AI. As expected, AI took center stage at this year’s tech exhibition and all the Korean manufacturing giants — from IT to carmakers — went all out to showcase their updated AI visions converged with hardware. This was inevitable, as the tech paradigm shift does not allow any firms to survive without the adoption of concrete AI business strategies. Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor remain arguably the three most influential tech players for the annual tech fair, driven largely by their top-notch technological prowess in hardware. However, CES 2026 clearly showed that the old days when the Korean tech firms could ensure continued growth only with hardware-centric business models are gone. Visitors to the show could easily spot Amazon’s self-driving robotaxi Zoox operating on streets near the Las Vegas Convention C