Robotics Special: Nvidia's new "robot brain"

Welcome back, Superhuman. The price of buying and building your own robot is cratering by the day. Nvidia announced a new developer kit for building robots that costs about the same as a high-end laptop. And in other news, a Unitree G1 humanoid robot has gone viral on social media after aiming a roundhouse kick at UFC president Dana White.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

1. Nvidia packs a 'robot brain' into a palm-sized box: The company just dropped the Jetson AGX Thor, a "robot brain" designed to run gen AI models and help robots navigate the physical world. Powered by Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs, the developer kit is priced at $3,499 — which means you can probably start building a robot for the price of a fully-loaded MacBook Pro. With clients like Amazon, Meta, and Boston Dynamics already on board, Nvidia is betting on robotics as a viable new growth market for the company. You can learn how to get started here.

2. Tesla is pivoting away from its Optimus training strategy: Amid reports that the company is falling behind on its target of building 5,000 Optimus robots this year, Tesla is reportedly shaking up its training strategy. Now opting for a "vision-only" approach, the EV maker aims to teach Optimus new skills through videos of humans carrying out different tasks — like folding laundry or picking up objects. However, some experts warn that translating video data to real-world robotics isn’t as easy as it seems.

3. Robomart claims it’s making robotic deliveries a lot more wallet-friendly: The LA startup’s new RM5 delivery robot packs 10 individual lockers for batch deliveries, which reportedly cuts delivery costs by up to 70% compared to human drivers. The company claims that customers will pay a flat $3 delivery fee with no additional charges — a stark contrast to the multi-fee structure of current apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Plans are in place to launch the service in Austin later this year.

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ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

🧠 Stroke Sidekick: Harvard researchers have developed a wearable robot that provides personalized assistance to ALS patients and stroke survivors with daily tasks such as eating and brushing teeth. Kate Nycz, who has lived with ALS since 2018, says it could be game-changing for patients’ quality of life. You can watch it in action here.

🪨 Rubble Ranger: When earthquakes strike, human workers face deadly conditions trying to clear the debris. Japanese researchers just unveiled a potential solution: a robotic hand that uses real-time sensors to dig and excavate in unpredictable disaster zones. The team’s targeting real-world testing and deployment by the end of the year. You can watch it in action here.

🌊 Deep Dive: China has sent its new underwater robot on a successful maiden voyage, more than 13,500 feet deep in the South China Sea. The Haiqin ROV successfully collected biological samples and sediments, positioning China to potentially ramp up discoveries in one of Earth's least explored frontiers.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Everything else you need to know this week

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

• Waymo kicked off NYC's first self-driving car pilot, rolling out eight robotaxis that will test through late September.

• Boston Dynamics went viral with a video of its Spot quadruped performing consistent backflips — a bid to improve its recovery systems.

• Nuro just nabbed $203M in funding to scale its "AI-first" autonomous driving system — with backing from Uber, NVIDIA, and other players.

• The Boring Company is testing Tesla's Full Self-Driving software in its Las Vegas tunnels, with safety drivers "periodically" taking control.

• Hyundai just upped its US investment commitment to $26B through to 2028, including a new facility with 30,000-unit annual robotics capacity.

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ROBOT OF THE WEEK

A robot that caught our eye this week

You can now sear a "restaurant-quality steak" with the push of a button.

Agari just dropped the AI Smart Cooker, a countertop robot that rolls a sous vide chef and grill master into one machine. It scans your food using AI, cooks under pressure in one-third the time, giving users a perfect steak sear in under 60 seconds.

You can check it out here.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Humanoid robot takes aim at UFC president Dana White (and misses)

First rule of 'Fight Club' — you never take a shot at the boss.

In what was meant to be a safe martial arts demo at the UFC’s event in Shanghai, Unitree’s G1 humanoid robot seemed to ignore its training protocol and turn on UFC president Dana White, attempting a roundhouse kick on the MMA promoter. Although the robot missed, the clip blew up on social media, racking up over a million views.

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Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team