LG unveils ThinQ Claw at IFA 2026, a text-based AI system designed to enhance connected home control, optimise energy use, and expand into commercial properties, signalling a shift towards ownership of the interoperability layer.
LG is pushing its smart home strategy beyond voice control and into a broader operating layer for the connected home, unveiling ThinQ Claw at IFA 2026 as a text-based AI agent designed to coordinate appliances, services and routines. The company says the system can analyse schedules, household patterns and living environments to recommend actions and adjust device behaviour accordingly, aiming to make day-to-day use simpler and more context-aware.
The move builds on LG’s acquisition of Athom, the Dutch company behind the Homey platform, which gave it a major foothold in interoperability across a wide range of devices and protocols. TechCrunch reported last year that LG took an 80% stake in Athom to strengthen third-party connectivity within its ThinQ ecosystem, a step that now appears central to the company’s wider AI Home plan. LG’s own materials at IFA describe the platform as being powered by Homey, underlining that the company is not just adding an interface but buying into the control layer beneath it.
That foundation matters because LG is pairing the new AI agent with home energy management. At the show, the company highlighted a system that can coordinate solar generation, batteries and EV charging alongside appliances, using energy data and usage patterns to improve efficiency. In effect, LG is trying to turn the smart home into a load-balancing system, not simply a convenience app, with the promise of shifting demand to cheaper or cleaner periods of power use.
The strategy is also moving beyond individual homes. LG said ThinQ Pro is now making its European debut, extending the same AI and management logic into shared and commercial properties. That suggests a second, more durable business line: helping landlords, housing operators and facility managers coordinate equipment across multi-unit buildings, where savings in administration and energy use can be more valuable than novelty features for consumers.
The broader significance is that LG is betting on ownership of the interoperability layer rather than on a subscription model for premium automation. Third-party support remains a complicated engineering task, especially across thousands of devices and varied home setups, but it also gives the company a route to lock in value through hardware, energy management and building-scale software. In a market where many smart home services are still sold as monthly add-ons, LG is arguing that the better model is one in which the home itself becomes the platform.
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