We’re one month into the new year, and it has already been an eventful one. It is shaping up to be a big year for technology in particular.
What are the top tech trends to keep an eye out for in 2026? Read on to find out.
Tech gets defensive
With the amount of geopolitical uncertainty rocking the world through 2025, and the first few weeks of 2026, it is unsurprising that defence tech is going to be a big theme of this year.
Across Europe, governments are unlocking more funding for defence spending, and this will be routed increasingly into innovative new technologies. UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), an organisation launched last year to foster innovation for the UK’s defence industry, is investing £142m into drone and counter-drone technology this year.
Drone tech in particular has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. Autonomous drones have played a vital role in the defence of Ukraine; with minimal human guidance, these can support human-piloted aircraft, perform reconnaissance and, controversially, attack targets.
Not all drones use lethal force, though. Some, like those built by Portuguese company Tekever, can perform electronic attacks on enemy equipment, such as jamming and electronic denial.
A reckoning for AI?
2025 was a landmark year for AI in many respects, but it also saw an element of doubt creep into the equation.
Nvidia usually gets a bombastic response from the stock market when it announces its results, but in November the company’s share price actually fell given how much money it had made; many worried that it implied AI developers were overspending on its chips. Oracle has also seen a huge amount of pessimism over the reliability of the spending commitments the likes of OpenAI have entered into with it.
Some worry that LLMs might struggle to recoup all of the costs that are being spent developing and training them. OpenAI poured fuel on that fire in January by announcing that it will incorporate ads into ChatGPT’s interface: in 2024, Sam Altman said that ads in ChatGPT would be a “last resort”.
This year, AI companies will have to prove that they are worth the hype. One that looks most likely to do so is Anthropic, perhaps OpenAI’s most significant rival. While the latest estimates suggest OpenAI won’t generate a return on the massive amounts of cash it is burning through until 2030, Anthropic is on course to break even in 2028, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.
It will be the AI companies that build specialised products to solve domain-specific tasks that ultimately prove the winners. AI is still going to be a huge story this year, but the hype is going to be combined with previously unseen levels of scepticism, scrutiny and expectation.
Quantum takes a big leap
Quantum computing technology has been on the periphery of commercial viability for years. It could be about to take the big leap into the limelight.
Several advances in quantum computing could bring it into the mainstream this year, according to Forbes. These include a shift from laboratory breakthroughs into real-world quantum use cases, with this pioneering form of computing having the potential to revolutionise fields like finance, pharmaceuticals and supply chain management.
Keep an eye out, also, for room temperature quantum computers. At present, quantum computers can only operate at close to absolute zero, but that could be set to change thanks to technologies like IonQ’s trapped ion technology and Xanadu’s photonic qubits.
Cambridge-based quantum error correction (QEC) chipmaker Riverlane predicts three trends for quantum computing in 2026:
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Increased investment as the quantum industry matures, potentially including more M&A activity following the likes of Google and IonQ acquiring smaller players last year;
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Quantum technology being brought to bear in geopolitical and human challenges, such as the US Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission;
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An explosion of QEC code (put as simply as possible: a simplification of the normal approach to quantum computing by creating a single, more reliable logical qubit out of multiple noisy physical qubits. Simple!)
Gene technology evolves
Biotechnology is an ever-progressing field. It has promised breakthroughs that will radically improve (and extend) our lives for years. Some of these could be coming into the limelight this year.
Personalised therapies – effectively, treatments that are tailor-made to match a patient’s (or a cancer’s) individual genome – could become more widespread this year thanks to advances in genomic technology and improved scalability. This has the potential to bring life-changing and potentially life-saving new treatments to sufferers of cancer, chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease, and neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
Jurassic Park fans will be particularly excited (or terrified) by the potential of genetic resurrection: the science of taking ancient DNA and incorporating it into modern-day organisms. Texas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences is the leader in this field. Last year, it announced plans to resurrect the dire wolf, but its flagship project remains the woolly mammoth. Resurrecting these long-extinct giants could, the company says, help to increase habitats’ resilience towards climate change, as well as gather knowledge that could contribute towards the conservation of modern day elephants.
Perhaps 2026 will be a little soon to see mammoths herding across the Siberian tundra. But as we all know, eventually life, ah, finds a way.
Robots in the house
The steady progress of robotic technology continues. A humanoid robot butler assisting with everyday chores has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. But 2026 could be the year we finally see robots start to take their share of the chores.
CES 2026 featured two different prototypes – from LG and China’s SwitchBot – performing relatively complex household tasks like folding laundry.
SwitchBot’s Onero H1 humanoid robot will go on sale later this year, with a target price of less than $10,000.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made the most noise about the imminence of robotic assistance in the West. But as with Tesla and BYD, Optimus seems to be lagging its Chinese competitors as things stand.
One more for next time
We think there’s one more big development that is going to drive attention, especially in the UK and Europe, through 2026. But to get a steer on that one, you’ll have to wait for our next blog post 👀
In the meantime, contact our team of experienced consultants at Oho Group, to be connected with technology’s greatest innovators.
