Lenovo and Motorola launch Qira AI assistant to unify phones, PCs, and wearables seamlessly

Motorola and Lenovo's New Qira AI Assistant Will Live Across All Their Devices

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. Motorola and its parent company Lenovo launched a new system-wide AI assistant on Tuesday that's designed to understand context, suggest follow-up actions and seamlessly move across the companies' various devices. The assistant, called Qira, was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas, along with new hardware including the Motorola Razr Fold, Razr FIFA Edition and Moto Watch. To use Qira, you won't need to open or switch to a separate application. It's embedded at a system level and can hop between Motorola and Lenovo gadgets like your phone, tablet, PC and wearables, all while maintaining continuity, so you can pick up wherever you left off. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. "It's always present: understanding what you're doing and supporting you in the moment, with your permission," Lenovo and Motorola wrote in a press release. "By sharing experiences with you over time, it learns your intent, anticipates needs and acts in ways that feel natural and personal." Qira is designed to understand context and reduce the need to search through apps. For instance, the AI assistant might inform you that your flight is today, and once you arrive at the airport, it'll automatically check you in -- no need to dig through any apps or think about which device has what information. Reminders, notes and notifications will be synced across your Motorola and Lenovo devices. "Our goal is to make AI feel less like a tool you use and more like an intelligence that works with you, continuously and naturally," Dan Dery, vice president of AI Ecosystem in Lenovo's Intelligent Devices Group, said in a statement. You can invoke Qira by saying "Hey, Qira" or pressing the dedicated key on your Lenovo or Motorola device. You can use it to draft documents and messages in a tone that resembles your own. Qira can offer real-time transcriptions and translations to help during meetings, along with generating summaries and tallying key points. It can also summarize notifications on your device and highlight the most important things you may have missed since you stepped away. Qira also works offline, so you don't have to depend on an internet connection for it to keep up. Motorola says Qira will work with other AI platforms like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity. The company has teamed up with these major AI players to enable a range of features on its Razr phones, with Qira building on the efforts previously branded as Moto AI. Qira's rollout will further cement those partnerships, and hopefully it'll make mobile AI more intuitive and helpful to use, rather than gimmicky. Lenovo Qira or Motorola Qira, depending on the device you're using, will first debut on a handful of Lenovo devices in the first quarter of this year, before expanding to supported Motorola smartphones. As mobile competitors like Samsung and Google continue to load their own devices with AI features, it'll be interesting to see how Qira pushes assistive AI forward -- and how its counterparts respond.

Lenovo's new AI assistant works across your phone, laptop, and Motorola's AI pin

Lenovo and Motorola launch Qira. Qira works seamlessly across all your devices. A new AI pin is infused with Qira. While Lenovo and Motorola made a splash at CES with their latest hardware launches, including the highly anticipated Motorola Razr Fold, the companies also made an exciting announcement in the realm of AI. Lenovo Qira is an AI assistant that works across the vast ecosystem of Lenovo and Motorola devices, including smartphones, wearables, PCs, tablets, and more. The assistant goes a step beyond traditional chatbots, such as ChatGPT, by performing actual tasks across devices and apps, including transferring files between devices, both online and offline. Also: The most exciting AI tech I've tried at CES 2026 so far (including a cleaning robot) "Lenovo Qira is not another assistant, it's a new way intelligence shows up across your devices," said Dan Dery, VP of AI Ecosystem in Lenovo's Intelligent Devices Group. "Our goal is to make AI feel less like a tool you use and more like an intelligence that works with you, continuously and naturally." Motorola also unveiled an AI wearable that will incorporate Qira. Although it is a proof of concept, I got a demo, and it looks really promising. Qira is described as a personal ambient intelligence system, meaning it is context-aware and available across multiple devices. Qira builds what Lenovo calls a fused knowledge base, which combines user-selected interactions, documents, and memories from across devices to create a personalized experience and develop a "living model of the user's world". Also: The weirdest tech I've seen at CES 2026 - so far This should help make the experience intuitive for users by eliminating context switching and requiring minimal background information to complete tasks. Some suggested uses include Next Move, which offers contextual suggestions tailored to your current task, and Catch Me Up, which provides users with summaries of what happened while they were away. Lenovo said that user privacy and consent are at the assistant's core, with a hybrid architecture that prioritizes on-device processing and keeps personal data local. In instances where sending information to the cloud is necessary, Lenovo states that it utilizes secure cloud services with robust safeguards. It will first be rolled out to select Lenovo devices in Q1 2026 and then expanded to supported Motorola smartphones afterward. On Lenovo devices, the experience will appear as Lenovo Qira, while on Motorola devices, it will display as Motorola Qira. While AI pins have been attempted before and notoriously failed, the 312 Labs at Motorola have built Project Maxwell to take a different approach. Motorola describes it as an "AI Perceptive Companion Proof of Concept". The pin uses Motorola Qira to help with everyday tasks when you don't want to use your phone. It has a camera on it, so the Qira has the context of what you are looking at to provide you with assistance. The pin itself features a magnetic back, which also has a chain attached for use as a necklace. Also: Why Nvidia's new Rubin platform could change the future of AI computing forever In the demo, Project Maxwell was used to assist with various tasks, including obtaining directions, ordering an Uber, and sending a text. In each of these instances, the user did not have to take out their phone; rather, they just spoke directly to the PIN. Then, the pin carried out the tasks from end to end. While this may sound like any other AI assistant, the key lies in understanding how it accomplished the task. While you don't need to look at the phone for the tasks to be done, if you choose to, you can see how Qira reasons through every step in the process to complete the task thoroughly. In the Uber example, it opened the Uber app, entered the requested location, selected the payment method, and submitted the full request for a vehicle. While much simpler, the sending text example was similar. Quira opened the app, selected the correct contact, entered the text in the field, and then sent it. This type of agentic assistance, packaged in a light and convenient form factor, could be a helpful companion for the day.

Lenovo's Qira AI Finally Connects the Dots Between PCs and Phones

LAS VEGAS -- Amidst the glitz of CES at an event in The Sphere, Lenovo revealed the next phase of its AI future, in the form of a tool called Qira. This is a new personal AI platform designed to deliver a unified, agentic assistant experience across laptop and desktop PCs, phones, and tablets in real time. Unlike siloed AI tools of the past, Qira (pronounced "keer-ah") is a "personal ambient intelligence" that works seamlessly across devices. It's a system-level AI assistant that's designed to bridge the gap between different personal devices and across the Windows and Android ecosystems. It's a big move for Lenovo, but one that's a uniquely appropriate fit for the company, which not only makes Lenovo laptops and tablets but also owns the Motorola brand of smartphones. Qira leverages Lenovo's existing ecosystem, fusing the capabilities of Moto AI, Lenovo AI Now, and the Lenovo Creator Zone into a single, continuous intelligence that follows you across your various devices. It's a level of cross-device functionality that's presently only provided by a handful of companies, such as Apple, Google, and Samsung, each of which has its own respective operating systems with original hardware that supports it. The Promise of Continuity Without Boundaries Qira's defining feature is its ability to maintain real-time context as you switch between devices. If you're researching a project on your Motorola Razr while commuting, Qira recognizes the content on the screen. When you later open your Lenovo Yoga laptop, for example, Qira proactively surfaces the "Next Move" -- a feature that provides the exact documents and creative tools needed to continue the workflow without first manually transferring files. The goal is to have the AI anticipate what you're doing, regardless of which device you're using, and provide a hyper-personalized experience that understands text, voice, and images, keeping your relevant files and apps at the ready to continue work, research, or offloaded tasks between devices. Agentic Capabilities and Low-Latency Performance Lenovo built Qira around a suite of experiences that move beyond simple chat interactions. Here's a breakdown of each function and what it does specifically, as their titles aren't crystal clear: * Next Move is predictive intelligence that anticipates user needs based on real-time screen awareness. * Catch Me Up is a cross-device summary tool that digests missed notifications and highlights from the day. * Write For Me is an "on-canvas" assistant that writes directly inside apps, adapting to the user's specific tone and intent. * Pay Attention is a meeting companion providing real-time transcription, translation, and instant recall of past details. To ensure reliability, Lenovo uses a hybrid AI architecture that combines memory, perception, and context across devices in real time. This approach uses on-device processing, leveraging local NPUs for low latency and privacy wherever it makes sense, with secure cloud server computing employed for more complex global tasks. Here Comes Qira...Eventually Qira is set for a phased rollout, launching first on select Lenovo AI PCs in the first quarter of this year. Later in 2026, the service will expand to the Motorola Razr and Edge series, as well as Lenovo tablets and IoT devices. Existing Lenovo AI Now users will receive a seamless over-the-air upgrade to the Qira platform. To further anchor the experience in hardware, Lenovo confirmed that future laptops will feature a dedicated Qira key. At the same time, Motorola devices will utilize a persistent digital "pill" and a natural voice trigger to make the AI an effortless part of daily life. Will Qira bring Lenovo's laptop and smartphone products to a relative level of parity with the operating system holders' best work? Come back for full system reviews, including insights on Qira, later this year.

Lenovo and Motorola are releasing their own on-device AI assistant

If the world didn't already have one too many digital assistants, Lenovo is adding another one to the pile. On Tuesday evening, the company announced Qira, a cross-device AI for both its own computers and Motorola smartphones. Set to arrive later this quarter, it will live at the system level of Lenovo devices. Users won't need to open or switch to the assistant. Instead, "it's always present," says Lenovo. Of course, you can ignore Qira, and it will stay quiet if you don't need the software to do anything for you. Occasionally, Lenovo says Qira will surface proactive suggestions, and for frequent users, the company promises a machine learning system that will develop a "living model" of your world, "understanding context, continuity and personal patterns of over time." In practice, that means Qira can write emails for you, transcribe and translate meetings and provide summaries of things you might have missed. You know, all the usual stuff every company is offering with their on-device assistants. From a privacy standpoint, Lenovo says Qira employs a hybrid architecture that "prioritizes" on-device processing, and won't collect customer data without the user's permission. "Every aspect of the Lenovo Qira experience is designed to be secure, ethical, and accountable." I asked Lenovo how Qira would interact with Copilot and Gemini on the company's PCs and Motorola smartphones, and if the new assistant would add to the processing load on those devices, but the company has yet to respond to my email. I'll update this article when I hear back. On paper, creating a dedicated AI assistant for the company's devices is something I'm sure Lenovo executives agreed was a good idea, but when many people aren't even using Copilot, it feels like a misread of what Lenovo users want. In April, reporting from Newcomer suggested Copilot had flatlined at around 20 million weekly users in 2024. By contrast, over that same period, ChatGPT had grown to 400 million weekly users, and as of late 2025, there are 800 million people using OpenAI's chatbot every week.

Qira unites the smartest features of Motorola and Lenovo

This could nevertheless be a neat solution for people with both Lenovo and Motorola devices. It could also be great for people upgrading to new Lenovo/Motorola products if the new devices retain the same context and knowledge base as your old products. Motorola also announced the awkwardly named Project Maxwell: AI Perceptive Companion Proof of Concept, which is a concept product that harnesses Qira. This "AI-native wearable companion" uses its camera, microphones, and other sensors to deliver "real-time" insights about the world around you. The company gave the example of asking the companion's assistant to listen to a presentation and then having it draft a LinkedIn post summarizing the event. Moto says learnings from this project will inform future Moto AI research initiatives.

Meet Qira AI, Lenovo's big bet on an ever-present AI helper

Qira sounds like it will be a staple app on Lenovo PCs, similar to its Vantage software. If you've been waiting -- like we have -- for truly useful artificial-intelligence applications to land on your laptop, Lenovo has an answer: Qira, a Lenovo-authored AI app that will live on new, select Lenovo PCs and Qira smartphones in the first quarter of 2026. Lenovo describes Qira as an "ambient" intelligence, which might be both good or bad; Windows' Clippy was famously an assistant which tried to understand what you were doing and offer assistance. Qira sounds like something similar, though with the intent that it "follows" you from Lenovo device to Lenovo device, or on to a Motorola smartphone as well, using a combination of agents and other tasks. Lenovo says that this will be marketed as Lenovo Qira, launching on "select" devices in the first quarter, and as Motorola Qira on smartphones later on. Lenovo says that Qira was designed for privacy, running locally as well as in conjunction with "secure" cloud services. "Every aspect of the Lenovo Qira experience is designed to be secure, ethical, and accountable," Lenovo says. I didn't really have a chance to see Qira in action before CES 2026, where Lenovo launched the technology. But the company describes Qira as performing three key functions: presence, actions, and perception. Qira can "proactively surface suggestions," or it can be invoked by saying "Hey, Qira" or by clicking the app's icon. Lenovo says that you'll be able to specify documents or "memories" for Qira to access, but that it also "orchestrates actions across apps and devices, coordinates agents, and moves work forward without forcing users to manage every step themselves," using agents or even offline. The idea is that will develop a "living model of the user's world," understanding "context, continuity, and personal patterns over time." Naturally, a Windows PC like Lenovo's will already have Microsoft's Copilot running. It will be interesting to see if the two can interact, or if Lenovo will try to push Copilot to the background instead. That's a lot of buzzwords that could mean just about anything, depending on the context. Native applications are polarizing enough already: some users like an absolutely "clean" Windows installation, while others appreciate apps like Lenovo's Vantage software, a centralized command and control center for configuring various aspects of Lenovo laptops, such as function keys or whether a laptop's charging ports work while the laptop is in a sleep state. I personally like Vantage, but there's a major difference between clicking through a series of actions in a centralized app, and then giving access to personal documents to an unknown AI. I can't help but suspect that Lenovo will have a kill switch in place for certain customers. What, specifically, can Lenovo's Qira do? Some of Qira's abilities sound familiar: "Write for Me," for example, is something most AI's can do, penning some text in an appropriate style or voice. Catch Me Up is something apps like Slack offer: the ability to summarize an active chat Here, it "highlights what matters, and helps you re-enter your work." Similarly, "Pay Attention" provides translations and transcriptions when enabled, as well as AI summaries, similar to Otter.ai or other transcription services. Others feel a bit more experimental. A Live Interaction feature "enables real-time, multimodal interaction while you are sharing your screen" -- whatever that means. "Next Move" sounds like the weirdest, offering "proactive, contextual suggestions based on what you're doing in the moment, with continuity across devices evolving over time," Lenovo said. "It surfaces useful next actions to help you move forward without extra steps." Qira, naturally, is a big bet for Lenovo. Corporate customers are sure to give Qira a doubtful eye...but many of those same customers are being actively encouraged to use AI to save time and resources. A vocal cadre of consumers actively hate it. We still don't know which devices Qira will debut on. But as one of the largest PC companies in the world, Lenovo is almost obligated to give AI a try. We'll have to see if it can pull it off.

Lenovo and Motorola reveal Qira, an AI assistant that wants to do it all

Qira is a cross-device AI assistant for PCs and phones, which puts AI in driver's seat. CES 2026 Read and watch our complete CES coverage here Updated less than 42 seconds ago Early in 2025, the Motorola AI bundle was announced. It was a set of proactive AI-powered features that relied on a mix of Perplexity, Gemini, and Meta's open-source AI models on smartphones. It offered on-screen guidance, voice-based assistance, improved search, and more such perks. At CES 2026, Motorola is announcing an evolution of that stack, which is also being implemented in Lenovo PCs, too. The big picture Say hello to Lenovo Qira and Motorola Qira. The companies refer to it as a single, built-in cross-device intelligence. The overarching idea behind Qira is to push an AI assistant at the center of the device experience, one that can get work done without asking users to open dedicated apps while also offering them helpful suggestions. For example, if you are engaged in work, Qira will show you smart suggestions on the screen, somewhat like the Magic Cue system on Pixel phones. It can also handle tasks autonomously and across connected devices. And while at it, Qira relies on a system where it can perform certain tasks on-device, which means no data or activity history ever leaves your phone or laptop. Recommended Videos Among Qira's most impressive features is Next Move, which is essentially a system of contextual suggestions based on the ongoing activity. For example, if you are looking at images of pizza, the AI can surface one-tap actions such as "look up recipes for homemade pizza," or "remember this." What else? Write For Me is there to assist users with their text-based chores, helping fix mistakes or adjust the tone of content. Then we have Live Interactions, which is similar to Gemini Live, and allows users to engage in a freewheeling conversation with the onboard AI about the content appearing on the screen or what it sees through the camera. Apple, on the other hand, does it under the Visual Intelligence banner. The built-in Creator Zone on Lenovo PCs will let users create unlimited, on-device images using the Stability AI engine. Qira will also link up with Notion, and other services such as Expedua and Vrbo, down the road. Qira has a variety of names for these AI actions, such as Catch Me Up, Pay Attention, Live Interaction, and more. Qira will make its way to Lenovo computers in the first quarter of 2026 and will eventually arrive on a select few Motorola phones later this year.

Lenovo and Motorola introduce Qira cross-device AI assistant

Lenovo announced Qira, a cross-device AI assistant for its computers and Motorola smartphones, on Tuesday evening. The assistant launches later this quarter and operates at the system level, remaining always present without users needing to open or switch to it. Qira stays silent when users do not require its functions. Lenovo states that the assistant surfaces proactive suggestions at times. For frequent users, its machine-learning system develops a "living model" of the user's world. This model captures context, continuity, and personal patterns over time, according to Lenovo. The assistant performs tasks such as writing emails. It transcribes meetings and translates them. Qira also provides summaries of content users might have missed. These functions align with capabilities offered in other on-device AI assistants. Lenovo employs a hybrid architecture for Qira that prioritizes on-device processing. The company will not collect customer data without user permission. "Every aspect of the Lenovo Qira experience is designed to be secure, ethical, and accountable," Lenovo states. "It's always present," says Lenovo, describing Qira's system-level integration on its devices and Motorola smartphones. This setup allows seamless access across platforms without additional user actions to activate the assistant. Inquiries sent to Lenovo sought details on Qira's interactions with Copilot and Gemini on Lenovo PCs and Motorola smartphones. Questions also addressed potential additions to device processing loads from the new assistant. Lenovo has not yet responded to these inquiries. April reporting from Newcomer indicated Copilot reached approximately 20 million weekly users in 2024, where usage flatlined. Over the same period, ChatGPT grew to 400 million weekly users. As of late 2025, OpenAI's chatbot reached 800 million weekly users.

Lenovo Qira cross-device personal AI unveiled at CES 2026

At CES 2026, Lenovo introduced a new personal ambient intelligence system designed to provide consistent, context-aware assistance across devices. Branded as Lenovo Qira on Lenovo products and motorola Qira on motorola devices, the platform delivers system-level AI that operates across PCs, tablets, smartphones, wearables, and more without requiring users to open separate applications. Lenovo Qira represents a shift from app-based AI to system-level intelligence that is always present, understanding context and providing assistance based on user activity and preferences. Over time, it learns patterns, anticipates needs, and acts across devices while maintaining user privacy and consent. For focused creative tasks, Creator Zone on PCs allows users to work with visuals and photos with minimal distractions and controlled workflow. Lenovo Qira emphasizes privacy by design, performing core AI functions on-device while leveraging secure cloud services for advanced capabilities. Key ecosystem integrations include: Lenovo Qira will be available on select Lenovo devices starting in Q1 2026, followed by motorola Qira on supported motorola smartphones. Existing Lenovo AI Now users will receive over-the-air updates, with broader expansion planned in later stages. Speaking on the launch, Dan Dery, VP of AI Ecosystem at Lenovo's Intelligent Devices Group, said:

On-device AI explained: Why Lenovo and Motorola are building their own assistant

On-device AI rise explained through Lenovo and Motorola's Qira For years, digital assistants have relied on the cloud for almost everything. You speak, data is sent to remote servers, and an answer comes back moments later. This model powered early assistants, but it also exposed clear weaknesses around speed, privacy, and reliability. At CES 2026, Lenovo and Motorola signalled a break from that approach by unveiling their own on-device AI assistant called Qira. Qira is designed to run locally across Lenovo PCs and Motorola smartphones, using on-device processing rather than depending entirely on cloud servers. The announcement reflects a broader shift in how personal computing companies think about artificial intelligence. Instead of AI being something you access through an app or a web service, it is becoming something built into the core of the device itself. Also read: Satya Nadella on AI in 2026: We will evolve from models to systems Cloud-based assistants made sense when consumer hardware lacked the power to run advanced models locally. That constraint no longer applies. Modern laptops and smartphones now ship with dedicated neural processing units built specifically for AI tasks. Continuing to send every request to the cloud increasingly feels inefficient. Privacy is one of the biggest reasons for this shift. Traditional assistants require constant access to personal data such as emails, files, photos, and usage habits. As assistants become more contextual and proactive, the volume of sensitive information involved only increases. With Qira, much of that processing happens directly on the device, reducing the need for personal data to leave local storage at all. Also read: NVIDIA at CES 2026: When AI learned to finally touch physical reality Speed is another major factor. Even fast internet connections introduce delay. On-device inference removes that friction. Tasks like summarising notifications, drafting text, or pulling up relevant documents can happen instantly, even without an active connection. Over time, these small gains shape how natural and trustworthy an assistant feels. Reliability also improves. Cloud services can fail or become unavailable. An assistant that relies on local intelligence continues to function regardless of network conditions, which changes how users depend on it day to day. There is also a strategic reason Lenovo and Motorola chose to build Qira themselves. Relying entirely on third-party AI platforms means giving up control over user experience, data flows, and long-term product direction. Owning the assistant layer allows tighter integration with hardware and operating systems. Qira is not positioned as a general-purpose chatbot competing with services like ChatGPT or Gemini. Instead, it is meant to live inside the operating system, with awareness of what users are doing across apps and devices. That context is critical. A locally embedded assistant can understand workflows, move tasks between a phone and a PC, and surface relevant actions without constant prompts. The timing aligns with the rise of AI PCs and next-generation smartphones. Chipmakers are investing heavily in local AI acceleration, and manufacturers now need features that justify this hardware. An on-device assistant is the most visible way to show why these chips matter. Whether users actually want another assistant remains an open question. The answer will depend on execution. If Qira works quietly, respects boundaries, and genuinely saves time, it may succeed where earlier assistants became intrusive or forgettable. For Lenovo and Motorola, building their own on-device AI is less about chasing hype and more about redefining what personal computing looks like when intelligence lives where the data already is.