Does Nvidia’s CEO Dream of Electric Androids?
Robots pose an opportunity for the ultra-successful chipmaker, but it should probably focus on building brains and not bodies.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Photographer: MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/AFPOne of the memorable moments of Nvidia Corp.’s most recent conference for developers came toward the end of the chip giant’s semi-annual event. Clad in his ubiquitous leather jacket, Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang strode onto the stage in front of a large screen displaying a row of humanoid robots straight out of a Philip K. Dick novel. After a beat, something cuter emerged from back stage: two knee-high robots more reminiscent of Star Wars’ R2-D2 waddled out, emitting beeps and boops.
This is the business Huang has been talking up for much of 2024, what he has framed as AI’s next wave. Robots will bring AI that “understands the laws of physics,” and how to interpret the world, he told Jim Cramer earlier this year. All factories will be robotic, and they’ll be building products that are robotic. “Billions” of humanoid robots will be shipped in the coming years, Huang has said.