IFA 2026 will show AI moving into everyday tech

IFA 2026 will open in Berlin on September 4, built around a message that challenges the usual promise of consumer technology: the so-called future is already in people’s homes, pockets, cars and health routines. Gizmodo reports that the event will focus on how technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital health and connected devices have moved from specialist categories into ordinary consumer products.

IFA Management CEO Leif Lindner says the shift is especially visible in AI. Rather than appearing as a standalone product category, the technology is increasingly embedded in devices that are sold for what they do—not primarily for the AI inside them.

“The future is not waiting somewhere five or ten years away. It is already in our homes, in our pockets, in our cars, in our health routines.”

That change also alters how the trade show itself presents AI. Lindner says AI once occupied an entire exhibition area dedicated to companies and products built around the technology. At IFA 2026, the emphasis will instead be on AI as an underlying layer across consumer electronics.

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“AI is becoming the new infrastructure of consumer technology. It is not one category anymore. It is becoming part of almost every category.”

The examples cited by IFA include refrigerators, earbuds and treadmills with AI built in. The point is not that every device has become an AI product, but that AI functions are becoming part of products consumers already understand and buy for other reasons.

Digital health becomes a major IFA category

IFA also expects digital health and beauty technology to be among its fastest-growing segments through 2026. The event’s highlighted categories include preventive health tools, connected fitness equipment, wellness devices and beauty products.

The stated focus is practical adoption. IFA identifies ease of use and the ability to adapt to an individual’s daily routine as key factors in whether these products become lasting parts of consumers' lives rather than short-lived purchases that are quickly discarded.

That framing puts the emphasis on integration instead of novelty. A connected fitness device, wellness product or beauty tool needs to fit into an existing routine, according to the event’s positioning, rather than simply add another app or gadget for consumers to manage.

IFA’s scale gives those categories a broad international platform. At the 2025 exhibition, the event hosted more than 1,900 exhibitors from 49 countries and over 220,000 attendees from more than 140 countries. Global media coverage during that week exceeded 301 billion, according to the figures included in the event’s announcement.

Berlin becomes part of the program

IFA 2026 will run from September 4–8 at Berlin ExpoCenter City, but the organizers are expanding the experience beyond the exhibition halls. The event’s Sommergarten outdoor concert area will host evening programming across four nights, beginning with electronic act BUNT on September 3.

The schedule also includes rapper and hip-hop artist Luciano on September 4, Ikkimel & Friends on September 5, and live podcast recordings by Mord auf Ex and Wine Wednesday on September 6. The September 5 performance is described as a mix of trap, techno and Berlin club music.

The ICC Berlin, a protected 1979 landmark that has been closed to the public for more than ten years, will also reopen as part of the show. Lindner presents the venue as a cultural space rather than another conference location, particularly for Berlin residents who regard the building as nearly mythical.

“Younger audiences, creators and lifestyle media experience technology differently. They do not only want a specification sheet. They want context. They want emotion. They want something they can share, discuss and remember.”

That approach reflects the event’s attempt to reach beyond traditional technology buyers and industry specialists. The organizers are treating concerts, podcasts and a reopened landmark as part of the way consumers encounter technology—not as separate entertainment added around the trade show.

“Berlin is not a backdrop. It is part of the experience.”

IFA 2026 will give attendees a look at how AI is being incorporated into everyday products, alongside the industry’s direction in digital health and the plans individual companies bring to the next several years. The event itself will run in Berlin from September 4 through September 8, with the Sommergarten program beginning on September 3.