is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
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On March 1st, 2026, The Lego Group will begin selling the most ambitious brick it’s ever made: a tiny computer that fits entirely inside a classic 2x4 Lego brick. When it detects NFC-equipped smart tags nearby, embedded inside new Lego tiles and new Lego minifigures, or when it sees other Smart Bricks, the company claims it will make entire Lego sets come to life — starting with the humming lightsabers, roaring engines, light-up blasters, and the music of Lego Star Wars.
These “Smart Bricks” and “Smart Play” initiatives, just announced at CES 2026, aren’t like the huge Lego Mario toys that required two AAA batteries and mostly only activated when their bottom-mounted cameras detected color or barcodes. They’re wirelessly charged, with a pad that can charge multiple bricks at a time and a battery that “will still perform after years of inactivity.”
The Lego smart brick (left) is joined by NFC-equipped smart tags tiles (center) and minifigures (right). Image: Lego
They have light and sound, light sensors, inertial sensors to detect movement, tilt, and gestures, and they form a Bluetooth mesh network with other Smart Bricks, so they’re aware of each other’s position and orientation — so Lego Star Wars ships and figures can do battle, for example, or so The Imperial March plays when you sit Emperor Palpatine on his throne.
When built into Lego cars, the bricks could detect which one crosses a finish line first, or change from engine noises to crashing sound effects if the vehicle is flipped over. The computer inside is a custom ASIC that is smaller than a single Lego stud and is firmware updatable via a smartphone app.
The bricks also have a microphone, one that Lego Group spokesperson Jessica Benson explains is used as a virtual button rather than recording anything. “I’ve seen it where you blow on it, if you put it on a birthday cake, for instance, it makes things happen. It’s very much used as another sensor point, it’s not recording any details, it’s just picking up those inputs that are to do with sound and reacting in real time to what the kids are doing with it.”
There’s also no AI in this product at all, Benson confirms, and no camera. (Without a camera to scan barcodes, they’re not compatible with Lego Mario tiles.)
The first sets shipping March 1st will all be Lego Star Wars:
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