ASUS used the opening of Computex 2026 in Taipei this week to step decisively into service robotics, unveiling a new in-home AI Companion Robot and an autonomous service robot called ASUS Kairo, both built on the company's new Maestro AI agentic platform.
The launch is one of the most visible signals yet that Taiwan's big PC and components vendors intend to be platform players in physical AI, not just contract manufacturers for U.S. and Chinese humanoid startups.
The two robots
The Companion Robot is pitched as an always-present in-home assistant that can draft messages on apps like LINE, initiate video check-ins and organize photos and schedules for elderly users. ASUS Kairo is a more conventional service robot designed for malls, hotels and offices, with guided navigation, follow-me assistance, and multilingual voice interaction with emotion-aware response.
Why Maestro AI matters
Both robots run on ASUS Maestro, a new orchestration layer that the company describes as a brain coordinating robots, IoT devices and enterprise workflows. Maestro uses agent-to-agent coordination to take a single user request and decompose it into specific instructions for the robot and connected services, then report results back to the user.
Computex as a robotics showcase
The unveiling is part of a wider robotics push at Computex 2026 that includes NVIDIA's 550B Nemotron 3 Ultra reveal and a sweep of physical AI partnerships from Boston Dynamics, NEURA Robotics and others. ASUS, with deep relationships across global retail and enterprise IT channels, has the distribution to put these robots in front of buyers fast.
Outlook
The big question for ASUS is whether Maestro can become a durable platform for third-party robot makers or whether it stays a thin orchestration layer for ASUS's own hardware. With Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi all circling the agentic home market, ASUS is moving aggressively to plant a flag in a category that is suddenly becoming a horserace.
Reporting based on coverage from the ASUS Pressroom, IndiaBlooms and DQIndia.