Of course AI was going to be big at this year’s CES, but somehow I was still surprised by the latest developments in Razer’s Project Ava. In 2025 it was a disembodied voice that promised to be “the ultimate AI gamer copilot,” dispensing emotionless advice about MOBAs and shooters. In 2026, it’s rebranded itself as “your AI desk companion” and morphed into a sycophantic human hologram in a jar that’s currently–steel yourself–running off Grok.
On the Ava site, Razer writes, “Building on the 2025 esports AI coach concept, Project AVA has evolved into a fully integrated AI desk companion designed to support every facet of modern life. Razer aims to bridge the gap between virtual assistance and physical companionship by providing a 24/7 digital partner that lives right alongside the user.”
In a trailer, Ava–first in the form of an anime girl named Kira who Razer describes as “always ready to level up with you,” and then as a muscular man named Zane–wakes users up, gives them vague fashion and work advice, and shouts gamer nonsense while the users play. According to Razer, Ava will be able to offer self-care and meal-planning advice, analyze your work spreadsheets, and cheer you on in video games–or, as it awkwardly told The Verge in a hands-on demo, “I look forward to partnering up with you and sharing the laughter and rage in gaming.”
The Verge noted how frequently their experience with the Kira character got flirty, and maybe that’s no surprise–Razer writes on the Ava site that it “currently utilizes xAI’s Grok engine to demonstrate its sophisticated reasoning and dynamic personality.” You know, the thing that’s making thousands of nude images, including CSAM and revenge porn, for Twitter users lately, not even for the first time. At least Razer seems to be leaving the door open to other AI platforms, including developing its own.
Razer apparently believes this thing is launching this year, taking $20 pre-orders for people in the US. I’d certainly believe they could do it, in that Ava could plausibly be an object that could be put in a box and sent to people to place on their desks. Less believable is any of its purported functions besides the one Razer is trying to not just come out and say: Here is the fantasy of a pretty girl (or handsome man, though even Razer defaults to using “she” at one point on its site), what Razer calls a “Friend for Life” in a bit of wordplay that probably sounded clever in a marketing meeting but really just belies the fact that this is a person-shaped facsimile that can witness your life and be witnessed by you, all the time, with no priorities beyond hyping you up and being “prettiest for you.”
The whole thing has the same pathetic vibes as Amazon’s recent Alexa ads, with an added dash of being gross as hell. You’d think in 2026 both the failures and dangers of personifying AI would be clear, and you’d think we’d be over the lonely gamer stereotype as a marketing tool, but, well, here we are on both counts. No one needs to buy the line Razer and other companies going all-in on AI are selling, that human relationships can be approximated and that their peak form is availability and attention. You, as a person who plays video games, do not need to fall for the con that you have whatever need Project Ava purports to meet, or that it embodies the form you want your relationships to take. There's plenty of online gaming advice out there, including from the people you're playing online games with. And you don't need an imaginary friend to tell you you'll feel good in your favorite shirt.
Chris Person
