Ecovacs' new launch nearly made me cry during my CES booth tour

• Ecovacs has branched out from robovacs with an AI-powered, animatronic dog
• 'LilMilo' is designed to be an emotional companion robot
• He can recognize you, learn your habits, and react to petting

Ecovacs is a brand best known for its robot vacuums, but it has just unveiled something rather different at CES 2026: its first 'emotional companion' robot. The Famibot LilMilo looks like a puppy, and thanks to some AI magic, it acts like one too. Minus the messy bits, obviously.

It might look a bit like a stuffed toy from the photos, but in person Milo is impressively lifelike in his mannerisms. So much so that during my CES booth tour I accidentally spent 10 minutes petting him and left feeling a little weepy. I blame the jet lag.

LilMilo has a camera in his nose, so he can recognize his owner, as well as being able ...