Decoder with Nilay Patel:

Razer CEO on AI in Game Dev, Grok, and Anime Waifus
Published: January 19, 2026

Episode Overview

Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge, conducts a lively, probing interview with Min-Liang Tan, CEO and founder of Razer, in front of a live audience at CES Las Vegas. The discussion centers on Razer’s provocative new AI-powered products and larger industry moves into artificial intelligence—from holographic “anime waifu” assistants to deep investment in developer-centric AI tools. Patel pushes Tan on issues of trust, safety, industry backlash, and the fundamental gamble Razer is making: betting that gamers (notoriously skeptical of AI) will ultimately embrace these changes.

Key Topics & Insights

1. Razer at CES: Tradition, Community & Concept Products

• Razer’s deep CES tradition:
  • Razer sees CES not just as a product launchpad, but a critical venue for showing off concepts and fostering community dialogue.

    “We’re a company that’s for gamers, by gamers...it gives us an opportunity to present the stuff we’ve got, get the feedback, and then we go back and polish it a little bit.” — Min-Liang Tan (05:14)

• The company’s approach: gauge community and industry feedback, then use that to decide if a concept becomes a real shipped product (09:08).
• Success, Tan asserts, is driven less by spreadsheets and projections, more by “is it cool, do we want it ourselves?” (09:08).

2. Project EVA: The AI Anime Waifu

What is Project EVA?

• A holographic, anime-inspired AI companion that sits in a jar on your desk, powered by Grok (Elon Musk’s AI), with ambitions to expand to other AI models (13:00, 13:58, 15:36).

Why Build an AI “Waifu”?

• Part sci-fi fantasy, part community whimsy, part technological showpiece. Inspired by digital assistants in gaming (e.g., Halo’s Cortana) and enabled by recent AI advances:

  “It’s that premise of being able to have a kind of a semi-physical representation of an avatar…to me being able to chat as opposed to clicking a button or typing...it’s cool.” — Min-Liang Tan (12:15)

• The idea originated from internal tinkering, then gained traction due to what AI can now do in conversations and persona.

Is it Real or Concept?

• Razer is taking $20 reservations, provoking a debate: is EVA a genuine upcoming product or a provocative stunt for feedback?

  “We plan to take it out, but we do want to get as much feedback to hear what are the concerns...we also want to make sure that we take [trust and safety] into consideration.” — Min-Liang Tan (13:58)

3. Controversy & Ethical Pushback: Grok, Deepfakes, and Companion AI

Trust & Safety Issues

• Patel presses Tan repeatedly about the risks of emotionally attached AI, citing mental health concerns and Grok’s role in recent deepfake scandals.
• Min-Liang Tan’s stance: chose Grok for technical reasons (“best conversational AI”), but admits to being in “early days” with widespread trust and safety concerns (14:58, 15:36, 22:19).
  • Notably candid about uncertainty:

    "I don't know if I can comment on that at this point of time because I don't have enough information...my focus to date has been more in terms of what's the best conversational model." — Min-Liang Tan, on Grok/xAI's safety (23:05)

• EVA is intentionally an open platform: users might someday swap in a “safer” language model.

The Companion Problem

• Why not just stop at Tamagotchi-style fun? Because AI avatars raise real risk:

  “Are you ready for a customer a few years from now falling in love with their hologram on your desk that you have provided?” — Nilay Patel (20:04)

  • Tan is less convinced of the risk, seeing emotional attachment more like loving a great game; but concedes, “we literally do not know” the outcome (20:18).
  • Ultimately, EVA’s goal isn’t romantic companionship but “a product that people care about”—even while admitting fan culture can go unpredictable directions (21:14).

4. Decoder Questions: How Razer is Organized & Decides

• Structure: Flat, focused on product, with about 40-50 direct reports—team aligns on serving gamers above all (25:28, 26:36).
• Decision-making: Heavily community-driven, iterative, and “nimble.” Global teams feed in regional gamer needs, and direct customer feedback shapes the roadmap (28:03, 28:40).

5. Razer’s Massive AI Bet: Developer Tools, Headset AI, and Gamer Backlash

AI Investment Strategy

• Razer is investing $600M in AI, hiring 150+ AI engineers—an enormous scale-up (29:21).
• Focus is on “AI as a tool for developers”: primarily QA companions to improve and accelerate the game dev process, not to replace creative humans or flood games with “AI slop.”

  “We’re all aligned against GenAI slop...What we aren’t against, at least from my perspective, are tools that help augment...and help game developers make great games.” — Min-Liang Tan (30:01)

RAM & GPU Price Spikes

• The AI boom has real hardware consequences—skyrocketing RAM and GPU prices risk making gaming laptops unaffordable.
  • Tan is frank: “We want to be able to make sure our laptops...remain affordable...but it has been moving...It is such a volatile situation at this point of time.” (33:22-33:53)

AI as “The Future of Gaming?”

• Patel probes the tension: slick marketing taglines vs. actual product value. Is Razer’s “AI is the future of gaming” just a buzz phrase?
  • Tan: Sees AI as inevitable across both consumer (headphones, companions) and developer (QA, workflow) spheres; emphasizes most “added value” is currently with developer tools (36:23).
  • The company aims to build an open, flexible platform that allows users to switch AI models as the space evolves—anticipates multimodal and persistent AI “companions” (47:35).

6. The Subscription Trap: Monetization & Gamers’ Irritation

• Patel points to the risk that new AI assistants will mean more monthly fees (53:20). Traditionally, Razer products are “buy once, own forever.”
  • Tan: Openly admits the ongoing business model isn’t solved—may roll costs into hardware or charge subscriptions, but says value will have to be “obvious” for gamers to pay (54:12, 56:07).
  • Acknowledges broader industry concern that the “cost stack” is getting abusive for players:

    “There’s times of which I would prefer micro... I wish I could just pay one time for this title... But at the end of the day, I think myself as consumer...if it’s worth that amount of money, I would pay for it. Otherwise, I’ll vote with my wallet.” — Min-Liang Tan (56:07)

7. AI ‘Bubble’ and the Future of Art in Games

• Will all this AI investment actually pay off? Patel pushes: is this the next tech bubble, or a transformative moment?
  • Tan believes value is already seen in tools like ChatGPT, anticipates potential will grow, but admits some efforts will turn out “AI slop” and get weeded out by market forces (58:09).

  "I do believe that in many cases, and in some cases we have not even envisaged yet, the potential will be realized." — Min-Liang Tan (58:09)

• As more human creators use generative AI, Tan predicts “we're going to crave for really great art, really great design...And the difference will come from human ingenuity, not from countless prompt mashing.” (59:18, 60:24)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On controversy and accountability:

  “Can you care about trust and safety and partner with Grok?” — Nilay Patel (14:56) “We pick Grok also because it’s got the best conversational AI…But ultimately, we see Ava as an open platform.” — Min-Liang Tan (14:58)

• On fandom and unintended use:

  "I don’t necessarily think that we want somebody to love, fall in love with one of our products and marry them. It might happen, you know, who knows?…But we plan to make the best possible product...with incredible amounts of care and concern." — Min-Liang Tan (20:47, 21:14)

• On industry volatility:

  “I don’t know if I can pick a number right now as I speak with you and by the end of the podcast.” — Min-Liang Tan, on RAM prices (33:59)

• On business model challenges:

  “I'll be candid. We have literally not thought through this in great detail...” — Min-Liang Tan (54:12)

• On gamer agency:

  “If it’s worth that amount of money to me, I would pay for it. Otherwise, I’ll vote with my wallet.” — Min-Liang Tan (56:07)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:16] Opening Q&A: Why Razer loves CES, concept products, and the community-first philosophy
• [11:25] Deep dive into Project EVA: origins, design, and AI choices
• [14:30] Confronting the Grok controversy and ethical risks of AI companions
• [20:04] Emotional investment in AI avatars—risk of unintended consequences
• [22:19] Trust and safety candidness—Tan's uncertainty on xAI as a partner
• [25:06] Decoder management questions: Razer structure, decision-making, and global focus
• [29:21] Razer’s $600M AI investment: product focus and developer tools
• [33:10] RAM & GPU price crises, economic implications for hardware
• [36:23] The actual “future of AI in gaming”—what the tagline means and where Razer is really betting
• [44:43] Motoko headphones: AI, persistent memory, multi-model support
• [47:35] Strategic value in being an “AI wrapper” vs. core intelligence provider
• [53:20] Subscription vs. one-time pricing: risks and gamer sentiment
• [58:09] AI tools in the broader culture of games, risk of an AI bubble, and Tan’s optimism for “human ingenuity”

Closing Thought (Tan):

"For gamers, by gamers...the mantra has really followed us from day one…We're just pretty much laser focused. It's just that the demographic has really changed. The word gamer has also changed through the years." (62:42)

Summary prepared for listeners seeking an actionable, candid breakdown of one of 2026's most revealing executive interviews in tech and gaming.