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We’ve already made our emotions clear on the topic after our personal Joe Maring spent some hands-on time with Challenge Ava at CES 2026. Whereas he discovered elements of the tech genuinely fascinating, like its capacity to shortly scan recreation menus and recommend loadouts, the general expertise left him extra creeped out than impressed. The guffawing, the makes an attempt at playful banter, and the clear push towards forming a “bond” with the AI overshadowed the extra sensible gaming-assistant facet of the system. But it surely’s your opinion we care most about, so we put a ballot in Joe’s article asking should you’d contemplate shopping for Challenge Ava.

Curiously, you have been fairly evenly cut up on Razer’s AI companion. 55% of you weren’t eager on the thought, however the slight minority would contemplate shopping for it.

Which may not be the roaring success Razer is hoping for, and worth would presumably nonetheless be an element for these open to the thought. Nevertheless, we stacked the deck a bit right here, with Joe not precisely gushing with reward for the futuristic AI buddy. Regardless of his unease at instances, nearly half of you clearly like the thought, or perhaps see the place the longer term is headed. If we’re all going to be sharing areas with AI-powered holograms and automotons ultimately, why not be an early adopter and get some helpful gaming recommendation on the identical time?

The feedback part of Joe’s article sheds some mild on why you voted the best way you probably did, and it’s simply as divided because the ballot.  One commenter pushed again on the concept Challenge Ava is “encouraging” flirting in any respect, arguing that it’s meant to assist with gaming, work, or scheduling, and that any flirtatious use is all the way down to the person consumer fairly than one thing Razer is actively selling. A few commenters additionally framed Ava as probably interesting to individuals who really feel lonely, stating that people have all the time anthropomorphized issues, whether or not it’s Tamagotchis or an in-game character.

After all, there have been loads of detractors as properly. One reader raised a broader level in regards to the irony of pitching an AI “gaming good friend” whereas large-scale AI infrastructure continues to drive up GPU and RAM costs for avid gamers. One other argued that this sort of product looks like one more step towards tech firms encouraging isolation, even when it’s wrapped in pleasant, anime-style packaging. There was additionally some pushback in opposition to the best way Ava presents itself, with frustration aimed on the overly cheerful, salesy tone fairly than on the thought of an AI assistant.

Prefer it or not, there’s clearly a distinct segment for Challenge Ava, and there’ll in all probability be quite a lot of beneath individuals’s timber subsequent Christmas — even when many are presents to oneself.