As competition in the AI chips segment stiffens, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is looking to dominate the emerging AI robotics space. This company, currently valued at approximately $3.3 trillion, helped to launch the meteoric rise of AI and it now wants to market compact computers specifically for humanoid robots. The new crop of computers from Nvidia, referred to as Jetson Thor, is planned to hit the market in early 2025.
This new development came to light in a report carried by the Financial Times. Nvidia plans to be the go-to platform when the humanoid robotics race gets underway.
Nvidia’s VP in charge of Robotics, Deepu Talla, revealed to the FT that the market for robotics was close to “a tipping point” and that “a ChatGPT moment” for robotics and physical artificial intelligence was moments away.
Nvidia’s market share has been coming under increasing pressure from other AI chip manufacturers like AMD. Cloud computing giants like Amazon and Google have also thrown their hats in the AI chips ring, which could further undercut Nvidia’s dominance. Consequently, Nvidia is taking the proactive step of investing heavily in its robotics division so that it gets the first-mover advantage there in just the same way that it positioned itself to dominate the AI chips industry long before AI was a big thing.
For example, Nvidia joined OpenAI and Microsoft during a funding round for humanoid robotics company Figure AI, which saw the startup catapult to a $2.6b valuation.
Nvidia didn’t provide any figures for its robotics business, but it is generally understood that the firm currently earns a tiny fraction of its revenue from robotics. In contrast, the company’s revenue from data centers accounted for a whopping 88% of the sales that Nvidia revealed in its third quarter financial earnings reports.
The chip-maker’s focus on humanoid robotics isn’t the only development in this space. Researchers at MIT unveiled a development-stage AI system that would enable warehouse robots to attain an unprecedented deftness in handling odd-shaped items. The system also makes it possible for the robots to maneuver within crowded warehouse spaces without exposing human employees to any risk.
This ground-breaking development comes at a time when the surging growth in e-commerce is placing logistics and retail businesses under immense pressure to automate their operations. MIT’s system, dubbed PRoC3S, promises to provide a scalable solution to the challenge of automating e-commerce package handling.
The emerging field of humanoid AI robots creates yet more demand for AI software and the attendant hardware, such as computer chips. The gold and copper extracted by companies like McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) is set to see increasing demand as these additional AI use-cases gobble up these metals.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to MUX are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/MUX
