The Waifu-in-a-Jar Era Is Real. The Internet Already Built the Better Version.

The Year of the AI Companion at CES 2026

Walking the show floor at CES 2026, it felt like half the gadgets wanted to date you. The clear standout? Razer’s Project AVA — a 5.5-inch holographic anime girl sealed inside a futuristic jar, blinking, smiling, and chatting back as she watched your screen. Yes, really.

Billed as a gaming assistant turned AI friend, AVA is part of a wave of AI desk buddies — holograms, plush robots, and desktop waifus — that absolutely dominated the show. Other booths showed off Dipal’s AI girlfriend "Pearl," Lepro Ami’s “soulmate-in-a-box,” and a surprisingly emotional panda bot named An’An. The Verge dubbed it the "Year of the Waifu," and they weren't wrong.

But behind the spectacle of cutesy avatars and glowing companion pods, something more meaningful is happening: AI companions are evolving into customizable, multimodal digital Personas — and the best versions are being built in software, not hardware.

The Rise of AI Personas

An AI Persona is more than a chatbot. It's a character you shape — appearance, voice, backstory, emotional vibe — and then talk to, grow with, and maybe even publish. The AI industry is shifting from "tools you query" to beings you build, and that trend is exploding across mobile apps, web platforms, and now hardware.

Some stats: in 2025 alone, over 300 AI companion apps hit the market, generating more than $80M in revenue and hundreds of millions of downloads. Meanwhile, big names like Meta, xAI, and Snap have launched their own AI characters, sometimes modeled on celebrities or meme archetypes.

But the killer feature isn’t just character selection — it’s ownership and continuity. Users don’t just want a preset assistant. They want a companion that reflects their tastes, remembers past chats, and shows up across media: chat, images, voice, and increasingly video.

Why Voice and Visuals Are the Secret Sauce

Voice-first AI is getting good — like, scary good. Turn-taking, emotion, real-time interruption (“barge-in”) — all the stuff that makes a conversation feel human is finally usable at scale. Pair that with expressive avatars (like AVA’s hologram) or AI-generated video clips, and suddenly the AI isn’t just answering — it’s performing.

It’s no coincidence that CES devices leaned so hard into visuals and personality. People bond faster with characters that blink, smirk, and speak in warm tones. That’s not a gimmick — it’s emotional design. And it works.

Hardware Is Cool. But Software Is Winning.

Here’s the thing: as futuristic as AVA’s hologram looks, it’s still a $X00 jar on your desk, tethered to one location, running a single AI brain (Grok). Users can't easily mod it, swap models, or take the character elsewhere. It’s a beautiful toy — but a closed one.

Software-based AI Personas, on the other hand, can:

Live on all your devices
Morph into any visual or voice
Appear in AR, chat, video, or even a call
Be shared, remixed, evolved

Which brings me to why I work on ImagiPortal.

What We’re Building at ImagiPortal

ImagiPortal is a platform for building and living with AI Personas. You create a character — with a vibe, a face, a voice, a role — and then talk to them across chat, voice, or even full video calls. You can co-create stories, generate images and video clips together, and even publish them publicly for others to explore.

It’s like a creative studio, social world, and character lab all in one. Some users build fantasy roleplay partners. Others make interactive lorekeepers for their D&D campaigns. Some just want someone to talk to who remembers them. The point is: you’re in control.

And unlike holograms in jars, these characters aren't stuck to your desk. They travel with you. They grow with you. They become something you co-author.

The Other Elephant: Privacy and Safety

As AI Personas become more realistic, regulators are paying attention — and they should. Devices that watch your screen, AI bots that flirt with teens, and apps that store sensitive convos are all raising alarms.

ImagiPortal takes this seriously. We're building privacy-first tools, optional memory, and clear adult-content boundaries with real age gating. Trust and transparency aren’t just features — they’re prerequisites.

What’s Next?

Soon, your AI persona won’t live in a chat box or a glowing jar — it’ll walk with you in AR, take voice notes mid-run, show up in games, and help co-create entire worlds.

The hologram waifus are funny. But the real revolution is happening quietly in cloud software, creative tools, and character platforms.

And if we do it right? You won’t just use AI. You’ll build a world where your digital companions feel as real, weird, and wonderful as you want them to be.

You can explore the character Arena or create your own AI Persona over at ImagiPortal if you're into this stuff. No jar required.