There are all manner of shapes and sizes of robots being built, but NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has a persuasive argument as to why the human form factor — of the humanoid robot — could prevail in the long run.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has offered a compelling perspective on the future of robotics. In a world brimming with specialized robotic solutions designed for niche tasks, Huang posits that the humanoid robot, despite its current challenges, holds the key to unlocking widespread robotic adoption and a multi-trillion dollar industry. His reasoning isn’t simply about versatility, but about the vital ingredient often overlooked: scale.
Huang stated, “Now the amazing thing about human robotics is not just the fact that if it worked it could be quite versatile, (but) it is likely the only robot that is likely to work. And the reason for that is because technology needs scale.”
He continued, “Most of the robotic systems we’ve had so far are too low volume. And those low volume systems will never achieve the technology scale to get that flywheel going far enough, fast enough that we’re willing to dedicate enough technology into it to make it better.”
Huang concludes his argument on the form factor: “But human robot it is likely to be the next multi-trillion dollar industry.”
Huang’s point about “technology needing scale” is crucial. Currently, robotic systems are often designed for specific, limited tasks. While these robots excel in their designed environments, the low volume of production limits the investment in core technologies like AI, perception, and locomotion. These technologies require vast datasets and significant computational power to develop and refine. A high-volume humanoid robot market, on the other hand, would incentivize massive investment, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement and innovation. The recent explosion of AI advancements, fueled by massive datasets and powerful hardware, underscores the power of scale that Huang describes.
And it’s perhaps this reason why many top companies are rushing to build humanoid robots. Tesla is betting big on its Optimus range of robots, while startups like Figure and 1X are also focusing on the humanoid form. In China, there are so many humanoid robot companies that they recently held a robot marathon with dozens of participants. With companies across sectors and geographies converging on the humanoid form, it’s likely that the manufacturing process for these robots will end up achieving the required scale to make them viable. And that might herald a new era of humanoid robots being as commonplace as cars and phones are today.