Las Vegas, NV, Jan. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As the doors opened at the Venetian Expo for CES 2026, a clear trend emerged: the world is moving past text-based chatbots. FIRSTHABIT, an education technology company, is leading this shift with their AI Model, Chalk 4.0, an AI Tutor which has become one of the most talked-about activations in Eureka Park.
Visual AI Takes Center Stage at CES 2026
About FIRSTHABIT
FIRSTHABIT is a pioneer in Visual LLM applications for the education sector. The company is a two-time CES Innovation Award winner, proving its leadership as an EdTech Startup in the AI era. By combining cognitive science with advanced generative vision, their flagship platform, Chalk 4.0, is redefining the boundaries of personalized education and student engagement.
How Chalk AI Works in Real Time
At its core, the AI tutor scans a student’s work to identify exactly where they are stuck and guides them toward the correct answer. Students can also take a photo of any question they don’t understand and ask Chalk AI for personalized assistance.
As the best next generation tool for AI in education, Chalk 4.0 has already been highlighted by reputed sites like Triple A Review, Likely A Business, Brics Technology & Get Pro Links for its unique ability to solve modern technical challenges and drive student growth.
Core Features:
- Visual LLM: This technology is built for the way Gen Alpha learns through platforms like TikTok and YouTube. It avoids long blocks of text and instead uses real-time animations and diagrams to explain complex ideas. Students can write or draw anything, and the system creates a visual representation to make the concept clear.
- Personalized Explanations: The system works like a private tutor. It watches how a student takes notes and where they hesitate during a lesson. By using this data, the AI changes its teaching style in real time to match the way each individual learns.
- Student-Centered Learning Flow: Students can ask Chalk 4.0 anything at any time. If a learner is stuck on a math problem, the AI looks at the work and guides them through the process. It focuses on how a student remembers information for the long term rather than just finishing a task.
- Education-Optimized Interface: The platform uses an integrated LMS to track weak spots and a tool called the Fast Track Finder to build customized student learning roadmaps. All of this happens inside Mind City, which is a 3D world where students grow from small cities into big fancy cities as they master new subjects.
- Gamified Rewards and Growth: The experience feels more like a game than a classroom. As students solve problems, they earn points that can be used to decorate their own universal planet. These points even have real-world value and can be used to like real money in CHALK’s world which keeps students motivated to stay engaged.
FIRSTHABIT is planning to officially launch CHALK in the United States in 2026. While the platform starts with mathematics, it is ready to expand into all STEM subjects very soon. The company is now looking for global partners in the EdTech sector who want to help build this new future for education together.
Live Feedback from Educators and Industry Experts
The response from educators and industry experts at CES was immediate and thoughtful.
“We’ve seen many AI tutors, but most of them still feel like a black box,” said a Lead Digital Specialist from a major U.S. school district. “What stood out with Chalk 4.0 was how clearly it visualized the reasoning process. Students are not just given answers. They can actually see how each step connects, which makes a real difference in understanding.”
Technology experts also pointed to FIRSTHABIT’s Visual LLM approach as a key differentiator.
“What impressed me most was how the Visual LLM was applied,” said an education technology specialist who reviewed the platform at CES. “Chalk 4.0 does not simply generate visual output. It uses visuals as part of the reasoning process itself. That makes explanations feel grounded and educational, not decorative.”
This feedback reflects the strength of Chalk 4.0’s design philosophy. At its core is a process-oriented AI model built on a Cognition Model and ontology-based structure, which prioritizes how learners understand and internalize concepts. Rather than optimizing for speed alone, the system focuses on guiding learners through structured thinking.
Chalk 4.0 delivers interactive AI guidance that closely resembles a one-to-one tutoring experience. By responding to visual input, learner behavior, and real-time interactions, the platform adapts its explanations dynamically, helping learners build understanding step by step.
Interviews & Talking Points
At CES, FIRSTHABIT leadership met with delegations from the United States and Asia to discuss the future of learning.
The core message at the booth is that the next generation of learners won’t interact with screens via keyboards, but through intent-based visual interfaces.
This vision is being realized through customized learning roadmaps and tools like the Fast Track Finder.
“At CES this year, the focus has clearly shifted from AI spectacle to real educational value.” says Hyunwoo Choi (Head of Business & Operations).
“Chalk 4.0 shows what happens when AI is designed not to impress, but to actually teach and help students understand, not just answer.”
What’s Next for FIRSTHABIT at CES 2026
FIRSTHABIT plans to launch its first product in the United States in 2026. The company’s confidence in this expansion is supported by prior results, with beta tests conducted in Korea and the United States achieving a 76.4 percent completion rate, nearly five times higher than that of traditional e-learning programs. These results indicate that FIRSTHABIT’s personalized, process-oriented learning approach resonates strongly with learners across different markets.
Building on this momentum and the strong traction demonstrated at CES 2026, FIRSTHABIT believes its learning technologies are well positioned to scale in the U.S. and globally. The company remains focused on expanding access to personalized learning experiences that move beyond short-term answers and support lasting understanding.
The CHALK AI Math Challenge will continue through the final day of the show, and we will contact the winners of the competition individually.
At the same time, the company is showcasing Mind City, a 3D, game-like environment where students explore their cognitive progress spatially. This student engagement platform turns learning into an interactive journey, allowing users to earn point-based rewards and cash.
The results speak for themselves. Beta tests in Korea and the U.S. showed a 76.4% completion rate, nearly five times higher than traditional e-learning. This success validates the effectiveness of Personalized Learning that moves away from short-term answers toward long-term internalization of knowledge.
Press Inquiries
FIRSTHABIT
hyunwoo.choi [at] firsthabit.com
A video accompanying this announcement is available here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YcVOk9GwY2M