We have entrusted AI with everyday life, from letting algorithms curate our playlists and summarize work emails to allowing sensors to park our cars and clean the living-room floor. It was only a matter of time before AI looked at the raw salmon on our kitchen counter and decided it could do a better job than us.
Enter the wan AIChef ultra, a countertop cooking robot that claims to see ingredients, think through recipes, and cook meals with minimal human interference. Revealed at CES 2026, it demonstrated the concept by turning a piece of salmon into a medium-rare dinner without anyone selecting a temperature, cooking mode, or timer. The human contribution was apparently limited to supplying the fish.
A 12 MP camera identifies ingredients, while Heimann infrared thermal imaging monitors their temperature. An NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano computer then chooses from over 1,000 recipes and adjusts the heat in real time with claimed accuracy of ±3.2°F (±1.8°C). Load the ingredients, press Start, and wait for the magic to complete. So, yeah, NVIDIA is not just for GPUs and automobiles; it is great for cooking, too. Like, who knew, right?
Its wan AiOS software also learns your preferences through “Perfect,” “Overcooked,” and “Undercooked” feedback. All that culinary intelligence remains on the device, ensuring your questionable taste in well-done steak never reaches the cloud.
The AIChef ultra can steam, boil, stir-fry, braise, pan-sear, and grill, potentially replacing a microwave, steamer, oven, slow cooker, Dutch oven, and cast-iron skillet. In other words, it is also a kitchen downsizing consultant.
The wan AIChef Ultra launches on Indiegogo on September 1, 2026, with Super Early Bird pricing starting at US$1,799, against a planned US$3,999 (!) retail price. Initial deliveries are scheduled for November in selected countries. But before you go ahead and commit when the crowdfunding goes live, you have to know that, as with any crowdfunding campaign, back with caution, as delays, changes, or non-delivery are always possible.
Images: wan AIChef [CH].
