Robotics Special: Nvidia bets big on robotics at Computex

Humanoid robotics is right on the cusp of becoming the “next multi-trillion dollar industry”. These are the exact words of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who unleashed a series of exciting new announcements at Computex this week. Meanwhile, an unknown startup is taking an innovative and unusual new approach to humanoid robotics.

P.S. The Robotics Special is designed to help you stay on the cutting edge of the latest breakthroughs and products in the industry. Our regular AI and Tech updates will resume as usual on Monday.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

Robot Revolution: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at Computex this week to unveil GR00T N1.5 — an upgrade to Nvidia’s open, customizable foundation model for humanoid reasoning. The model was built in just 36 hours (down from three months) using the new GR00T-Dreams blueprint, which cranks out massive amounts of synthetic motion data from a single image input. The N1.5 model adapts to new environments and can potentially be deployed on the Jetson Thor robot computer, set to launch later this year.

Warm Wiring: Cartwheel Robotics founder Scott LaValley is taking an interesting approach to humanoid robotics. Rather than building robots geared at industrial or home applications, the Boston Dynamics alum is focusing on designing humanoids for lovability and emotional connection. LaValley argues that commercial humanoids tend to be "soulless tools" lacking personality, whereas Cartwheel aims to create robots that bring "joy, warmth, and everyday magic" through companionship rather than utility.

Home Hero: Days after breaking the internet with its dance moves, Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot has showcased some stellar household capabilities in a new viral video. The robot can be seen performing tasks like taking out the trash, vacuuming floors, sweeping counters, and even stirring food in pots with natural coordination. Unlike earlier scripted demos, Optimus now shows real-time adaptive control as it follows natural language instructions with improved confidence and precision.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

Serpent Security: High school students have designed robotic snakes to solve a unique problem for the Air Force: Keeping endangered California tiger salamanders off active runways. The mechanical serpents scare the protected amphibians away from dangerous flight zones without harming them, offering a creative alternative to traditional wildlife management.

Doctor Droid: Johns Hopkins researchers have developed STAR, an AI-powered surgical robot that can independently suture soft tissue with greater precision than human surgeons. The robot can complete nearly 6 stitches before needing human correction, compared to manual surgery, where surgeons need to adjust after almost every stitch.

Bedside Bot: Taiwan's hospitals have deployed Nurabot, an AI-powered nursing robot, to combat the projected global shortage of 4.5M nurses by 2030. The robot handles medicine deliveries, ward patrols, and visitor guidance, potentially reducing nurse workloads by 30%.

Heavy Hauler: California startup RoboForce has unveiled Titan, a rugged AI-powered industrial robot designed to handle the "dull, dirty, and dangerous" jobs that drive high worker turnover in mining, manufacturing, and solar industries.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Humanoid robots duke it out as they gear up for boxing debut

It’s fight night in Hangzhou tomorrow, and the robots are getting warmed up. 

Chinese robotics company Unitree has demonstrated aggressive combat capabilities in their humanoid robots during a demo at a school in Hangzhou, China, ahead of the world's first robot boxing match slated for May 25.

Human operator teams will guide the robots using three different control modes during the competition. The event isn’t just for entertainment; it’ll also provide critical data that can be used to train more formidable humanoid robots in the future.

ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

It’s been widely hailed as DJI’s most advanced drone yet.

The Mavic 4 Pro is packed with the company's first 360-degree rotating gimbal, 51-minute battery life, and a 100-megapixel camera capable of 6K/60fps HDR recording. It offers significant upgrades, including faster speeds (56 mph), longer range (25 miles), and advanced subject tracking that works even when targets are partially obscured.

The company had said that the drone wouldn’t be launching in the US. However, according to The Verge, the drone did pop up in US stores anyway (at least for a little while).

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

Here are the biggest developments in the robotics space that you should know about:

• Beyond Imagination, co-founded by famous AI futurist Ray Kurzweil, who popularized "the singularity" concept, raised $100M in Series B funding.

• Walgreens has opened its newest micro-fulfillment center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where robots will process 13M prescriptions annually for nearly 200 Midwest locations.

• Boston Dynamics has joined hands with LG Innotek to develop advanced vision-sensing technology for its Atlas humanoid robot, combining RGB cameras and 3D sensing modules into a single system.

• Hyundai has installed AI-powered automatic charging robots (ACRs) at Incheon International Airport — the world's first robotic EV charging service at a major travel hub.

• Saildrone has picked up $60M to establish European operations and deploy autonomous surveillance vessels across the Baltic and North Seas.

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Zain and the Superhuman AI team