Razer, the company best known for its RGB-infused keyboards, cat-ear headsets, and over-priced gaming chairs, has just revealed that its “AI gaming copilot” Project Ava will be used in its latest invention: an AI anime waifu that sits on your desk, named “Kira.” She’ll be powered by Elon Musk’s Grok.
The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show kicked off in Las Vegas this week and, unsurprisingly, AI-powered tech is everywhere. Razer announced its AI gaming assistant, Project Ava, at last year’s show, alongside a prerecorded video of the copilot program suggesting tips to help a player navigate a boss fight in Black Myth: Wukong.
Razer’s Project Ava has now returned in physical form. The newly unveiled “AI Desk Companion” version comes equipped with a built-in webcam (which Razer states is for its “human-like vision” and “full contextual awareness”), a series of customizable RGB LEDs, a USB-C port, and, most notably, a “swappable” 5.5-inch-tall 3D holographic avatar.
Razer Holographic AI Voice Assistant Kira (Project Ava) CES 2026 Demo #Razer #CES2026 pic.twitter.com/ah54Us7QMJ
— Shacknews (@shacknews) January 6, 2026
According to the press release, Project Ava’s holographic companion currently comes in five varieties. These include the default, amorphous green blob Ava, the aforementioned cat-ear wearing anime waifu Kira, and a buff “gaming wingman” called Zane.
The other two holograms are actually 3D recreations of real people: the South Korean eSports legend Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the J-Pop idol Saori “Sao” Araki, the latter of whom exploded in popularity last year following her viral “Office Lady” meme.
As detailed in a report by Inverse, the physical version of Project Ava will be powered by xAI’s Grok, which recently started posting CSAM online. If you’re curious how it will perform as Grok races to seed social media with deepfake porn, several outlets, including both Gizmodo and The Verge, were less than complimentary about its implementation.
Gizmodo’s James Pero stated that his experience with Project Ava was “as wonky as chatting with any other AI chatbot out there,” and The Verge’s Antonio G. Di Benedetto noted that the anime AI assistant Kira “kept incessantly filling gaps in communication with annoying chatter.”
If you’re still keen to get your hands on one of these regardless, the FAQ on Razer’s Project Ava website states that it’s “expected to be available in the second half of 2026” and that folks in the United States can already reserve one of the units by putting down a $20 deposit. The company still hasn’t revealed how much the full Grok-powered holograms will cost.
