At the Nvidia GTC 2024, the company announced that it will help create a new generation of robots that will be smarter and more efficient than ever.
What makes this an interesting venture is that the robots will learn from the humans - the way they move, talk and think will be learned by observing us.According to experts at Nvidia, this mode of training will help them quickly adapt to real-life situations and master skills like dexterity and coordination.
The enabling technologies are coming together for leading roboticists around the world to take giant leaps towards artificial general robotics.Nvidia has referred to its new project as a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots. It is targeting the increasing number of companies such as Figure AI, Fourier Intelligence, Sanctuary AI, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics, that are entering the human-robot space.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO
In simple terms, GR00T will provide the necessary AI platform and infrastructure needed to make humanoid robots a reality.
Other Robotics Companies Welcome GR00T Nvidia's announcement has been warmly welcomed by most of the companies. For example, Jonathan Hurst (co-founder and Chief Robotics of Agility Robotics) said that robots like Digit (a humanoid robot they have already created) are here to change the future of labor.
They are excited to join hands with Nvidia and invest in the creation and training of more such robots to the extent that they can become a part of our daily lives.
Sanctuary AI co-founder and CEO Geordie Rose also shares similar sentiments. He said that technology like Embodied AI will help humanity reach points beyond our imagination. For a journey this long and exciting, they are happy to have reliable long-term partners like Nvidia who share their goals and vision.
What's Next in Line for Project GR00T?
Nvidia has already taken big strides forward for GR00T. For starters, it has talked about the SoC, a new-generation chip that includes a GPU based on the latest Nvidia Blackwell architecture with the following features:
- A transformer engine that delivers 800 teraflops of AI performance necessary to run multimodal models like GR00T
- 100GB of ethernet bandwidth
- A high-performance CPU cluster
- An integrated functional safety processor
Apart from this, Nvidia is also working on two separate programs called Isaac Manipulator & Isaac Perceptor.
- Isaac Manipulator will help create the best robotics arms in the industry that are strong, dexterous, coordinated, and flexible
- Isaac Perceptor will revolutionize the robot's vision processing capacity, update its multi-camera model, and improve its 3D-surround vision abilities.
I'm not sure this is the best template possible. In fact, I would fear robots learning from humans - because they would be the psychopaths without many psychopathic weaknesses.