LEGO Makes Its CES Debut With a Plastic Brick That Beat AI, Robots, and 130-Inch TVs

While tech giants lined the halls of CES 2026 with AI-powered robots, NVIDIA's autonomous vehicle platforms, and Samsung's "AI Companion" appliances, the most demonstrable product at the show fit in your hand.

LEGO's Smart Brick is deceptively simple: a standard 2x4 LEGO brick packed with technology smaller than a single stud; an interactive product with no screen, app or set up of any sort required. Just snap it into your build and it responds to how you play—Rebel star fighters that adjust engine sounds when you dive into the Death Star trench, ducks that quack when petted, the sonorous tones of Darth Vader trash-talking during lightsaber duels.

This marks LEGO's first CES appearance in its 92-year history. Julia Goldin, Chief Product & Marketing Officer, called it "the most significant evolution since the minifigure in 1978."

And in a sea of products requiring explainer videos and trained staff, LEGO built something a seven-year-old can demonstrate in three seconds.

Why demonstrability wins at CES

While CES filled with products that need paragraphs to explain, LEGO gave us a clear lesson in demonstrability beating complexity every time.

TikTok's algorithm rewards content that can be understood immediately. The Sprout Social 2025 Impact Report found that 82% of consumers say video influenced a purchase decision. But here's the insight: content that films itself wins.

You can see the impact directly in videos from CES creators playing with Star Wars sets, where Luke and Darth Vader clash lightsabers with authentic impacts. An A-wing fighter that generates different engine noises based on movement. Emperor Palpatine on his throne while the Imperial March plays. These are experiences viewers immediately understand and want, with clear and obvious context that syncs with the products storyline entirely.

Compare that to most CES announcements. NVIDIA's open-source autonomous vehicle models are revolutionary but require technical knowledge. Samsung's 430 million SmartThings users are impressive but difficult to visualise. Semiconductor advances, as impressive and important as they are, don't film well. And, crucially, involve far less attacks on the Death Star.

LEGO understood that in 2026, when nearly one in three consumers skip Google and start searches on TikTok or Instagram (over 50% for Gen Z), products need to work as content. Not products with content strategies, but products that are inherently shareable.

The technology you won't notice

The brick contains a 4.1mm ASIC chip smaller than a LEGO stud, accelerometers, sensors, and a miniature speaker. The Smart Play system includes Smart Tags (tiles with unique IDs) and Smart Minifigures that communicate through BrickNet, LEGO's Bluetooth-based protocol. The bricks form a decentralised network without requiring internet or external controls.

The technology represents over 20 patented world-firsts. But what makes it remarkable is what it doesn't include: no companion app, no account creation, no firmware updates. LEGO deliberately avoided screens entirely, keeping kids engaged with physical play enhanced by invisible technology.

The lesson for 2026

Sometimes the most innovative thing you can do is subtract. In a show where complexity was the norm, LEGO won by making something so simple that explanation became unnecessary.

As social commerce penetration hits 31% globally and platforms increasingly function as search engines, products that demonstrate value instantly have an enormous advantage. The question isn't "How do we explain this?" but "Does this film itself?"

LEGO built a product where the answer is yes. A lightsaber that sounds like a lightsaber. An engine that revs like an engine. A minifigure that talks when appropriate.

That's content that creates itself. That's marketing that doesn't feel like marketing. That's innovation that seven-year-olds and tech journalists both understand immediately, and in 2026, that might be the most important marketing feature you can build.

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Marc Burrows Published on January 6, 2026 4:50 pm