Chip manufacturing giant NVIDIA will ramp up its investment in robotics in 2025. More specifically, the Financial Times confirmed that in the first half of this year, NVIDIA will launch a new generation of compact computers for humanoid robots, called Jetson Thor.
The move was expected and part of a multi-year strategy that is constantly evolving. As Deepu Talla, NVIDIA's vice president of robotics, told reporters in Tokyo last month, NVIDIA doesn't intend to compete directly with manufacturers like Tesla, but instead provides a kind of underlying OEM for "hundreds of thousands" of robot manufacturers around the world.
As for why now, Talla told the Financial Times that the shift is due to two technological breakthroughs: the explosion of generative AI models, and the ability to train robots using simulated environments.
NVIDIA doesn't say it explicitly, but it's clear: NVIDIA is pushing the boundaries of AI robotics as big customers like Amazon and Google work to reduce their reliance on NVIDIA AI chips by developing their own AI chips.