The News
The Consumer Electronics Show, which for years has been rather sleepy in terms of big announcements, got a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang earlier this week when he announced the company’s new gaming GPU and other AI-related products.
It was Huang’s comments on robotics that were the most revealing. He announced a new, open-source tool called Cosmos that can generate lifelike training data for robotics. He said it will reduce the cost of developing self-driving car technology, which he predicted will be the first multitrillion-dollar robotics market. Nvidia is partnering with Toyota to provide an autonomous driving operating system.
Reed’s view
Because generative AI is able to create photorealistic, synthetic content, it’s possible to develop simulations for robotics training that previously would have taken years of real-world data gathering. Autonomous driving companies are already using this method, but now Nvidia is giving it away by open-sourcing it. The reason: The vast majority of robotics training will likely use Nvidia chips.
As I mentioned in the year-end predictions, I think 2025 is going to mark an inflection point for robotics, perhaps not in the form of consumer products, but in breakthroughs that will lead to some mind-blowing advances down the road.