For years, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has evolved from a consumer-electronics showcase to a global premier launchpad for chipmakers, turning the event into a key battleground for leadership in computing and AI hardware. The upcoming 2026 edition is expected to be no less.
AMD has confirmed that President and CEO, Dr. Lisa Su will deliver the opening keynote on January 5, outlining the company’s AI vision across cloud, enterprise, edge, and consumer devices. While we aren’t expecting any major announcements like a new GPU generation or a surprise Zen 6 tease (though we can still dream), expect some important launches.
Let’s break down what’s likely, what’s rumored, and what’s pure wishful thinking.
New 3D V-cache chips
AMD has managed to grab a sizable chunk of the consumer CPU market with its 3D V-Cache CPUs, and it seems that the company has plans to add more to its inventory. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is one chip that is likely to make an official appearance at CES 2026. The chip was accidentally revealed by AMD itself through its own driver pages, which itself hints that the CPU is ready for launch.
In a separate leak, it is claimed that the 9850X3D will feature 8-cores, 16 threads, with base clock speeds of 4.7GHz, and boost clock speeds of 5.6GHz. It will feature a similar TDP of 120W with 96MB of L3 cache as the 9800X3D potentially making it one of the best CPUs for gaming.
Additionally there is also the mention of a more powerful Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 CPU, featuring dual 3D V-Cache stacks for a total of 192MB of L3 cache, and a 200W TDP. This could potentially make it AMD’s most powerful gaming CPU design ever, although these are just mere rumors. Having said that, this leaked SKU hasn’t surfaced anywhere reliable, and AMD traditionally launches its mainstream X3D gaming chip before any high-core-count variants.
Ryzen 9000G desktop APUs
While the X3D range of CPUs target gamers, the Ryzen 9000G APUs might be AMD’s most meaningful CES launch for the mainstream desktop market. Recent AGESA updates uncovered by data miners suggest that AMD could be preparing new desktop APUs built on the same Krackan and Strix Point silicon used in its latest mobile chips.
If that information holds true, the 9000G lineup would bring together Zen 5 CPU cores, RDNA 3.5 graphics, improved AI/NPU capabilities, and native AM5 socket support, all in a single package.
This combination would make the 9000G series especially appealing for home PCs, HTPCs, budget gaming rigs, and compact small-form-factor builds. AMD has consistently held a strong lead in the integrated GPU space, and a Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5 APU on desktop could easily recreate the excitement of the Ryzen 7 5800G moment, offering genuinely capable gaming performance without a discrete GPU.
However, expectations should be tempered. A reliable source indicated earlier this year that the Ryzen 9000G series may simply be a refresh of the current Ryzen 8000G lineup, meaning it would still be based on the older Zen 4 architecture rather than Zen 5. If that turns out to be the case, the 9000G range would be far less exciting than early leaks suggested, and more of an incremental update than a genuine next-generation leap.
Ryzen AI 400 “Gorgon Point”
If there’s anything AMD will push hard at CES next year is AI PCs, largely because the entire industry is moving in that direction whether anyone asks for it or not. That brings us to Ryzen AI 400, codenamed Gorgon Point, the next step in AMD’s mobile roadmap. Until recently, it was widely assumed to be a straightforward refresh of Strix Point.
According to leaked company slides, Gorgon Point is expected to feature up to 12 Zen 5 CPU cores with a slightly upgraded NPU, and RDNA 3.5 graphics rather than moving to RDNA 4. This aligns Gorgon Point much closer to Strix Point than enthusiasts hoped.
RDNA 3.5 is a refined, efficient architecture but for handheld gaming PCs, which likely means only incremental gains rather than a generational leap. Given how competitive the handheld market has become, staying on RDNA 3.5 may feel like a missed opportunity.
Where AMD will be leaning in hard is the AI story. With Microsoft pushing Copilot+ branding, Intel targeting 50+ TOPS NPUs with Panther Lake, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips already setting benchmarks for on-device AI, AMD needs to keep pace.
Expect a flood of designs including ultrabooks, thin-and-lights, and premium creator laptops, featuring Ryzen AI 400 silicon across CES show floors.
The AI Strategy
Since Dr. Lisa Su’s keynote isn’t just about consumer CPUs, AMD will also cover a range of AI-related topics, including datacenter AI acceleration, edge AI solutions, enterprise AI workflows, AI-optimized gaming hardware, and updates to the AI software ecosystem. This comprehensive focus will occupy a significant portion of the keynote, which makes sense as AMD aims to carve out more space against Nvidia’s AI dominance, particularly in inference and cost-optimized deployments.
As for what enthusiasts want to see at CES, the wishlist is long. A Zen 6 teaser would generate some obvious excitement, yet it’s almost certainly too early for AMD to talk about a 2027 architecture. The same goes for RDNA 5 as the GPU landscape is unusually quiet right now, and AMD seems far more focused on APUs and AI than pushing into next-gen Radeon territory.
Even the rumored dual-cache Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 feels unlikely for CES, despite the chatter. Unless AMD has something unusually big tucked away, the safest assumption is that we’ll only see the more mainstream X3D gaming chip for now.
