In just three days, major events have occurred in the field of robotics, especially humanoid robots.
"The basic model of robots may soon appear and is expected to be released some time next year. From then on, something very surprising will happen in 5 years." This is a prediction given by Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun in a recent interview.
In this interview, when asked about "what you think will change right now," the head of the "most important stock on Earth" said, "There are a few things. One of them doesn't have a real name, but it's some work we do in the field of basic robotics. If you can generate text and images, can you also generate motion? The answer may be yes.". So, if you can generate actions, you can understand the intent and generate a universal version. Therefore, humanoid robot technology is just around the corner
On the same day of the interview, Jim Fan, a senior research scientist at NVIDIA, announced that he will work with Yuke Zhu to form a research group called "General Embodied Agent Research" at NVIDIA.
He believes that in the future, every mobile machine will be autonomous, and robots and simulated agents will be ubiquitous like iPhones. "We are building a foundational intelligent agent: an AI with universal capabilities that can learn how to act proficiently in multiple virtual and real worlds. 2024 will be the year of robotics, game AI, and simulation."
In addition, NVIDIA, Bezos, and others will invest in Figure AI, a humanoid robot company, in order to find new applications for AI. Figure AI has previously received support from OpenAI and Microsoft, and will raise approximately $675 million in a round of financing, with a pre transaction valuation of approximately $2 billion. Bezos has promised to invest $100 million through its subsidiary Explore Investments LLC, Microsoft will invest $95 million, and Nvidia and an Amazon affiliated fund will each provide $50 million.
At the beginning of the year, AI became popular across the internet with a video of a humanoid robot brewing coffee. The robot uses an end-to-end AI system and can complete training within 10 hours by simply observing humans brewing coffee. Afterwards, the company announced that its robots had entered the BMW factory.
Nvidia is constantly moving, while Musk shared the latest video of Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus (Optimus Prime) on February 24th local time.
In the video, Optimus's gait is more stable and his walking posture is closer to that of a human; When changing the direction of travel, it is extremely smooth, without a stiff mechanical feeling, and does not stop moving while turning.
Optimus robot engineer Milan Kovac explained that this is the fastest gait in Optimus history, with a speed of approximately 0.6 meters per second, which is 30% faster than the video released in December.
"We have improved the vestibular system, foot trajectory, and ground contact logic; upgraded the motion planner and shortened the loop delay of the entire robot. Optimus' overall walking stability and confidence have improved, even performing excellently during turns. We have also added slight torso and arm sway."
Robot+AI "Crazy Year" Securities firms suggest paying attention to four main themes
"In the coming weeks, there will be 3-4 major news releases that will shake the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. Adjusting your schedule will be a crazy year for 2024," Google DeepMind research scientist Ted Xiao predicted on February 22 local time.
After the Spring Festival, the robotics sector rebounded strongly. According to a research report by CITIC Securities, the main reasons were the expected improvement in the progress of Tesla's humanoid robotics industry chain, the ignition of robotics technology innovation by AI giants, and continuous positive updates on policy and vendor sides. In addition, the easing of liquidity issues also provided conditions for the sector's rebound. The progress of industrial development will be greatly accelerated with the support of AI. The rebound of the sector is in its initial stage, and 2024 will be a year of rapid development for humanoid robots.
Under the catalysis of factors such as expected improvement in the progress of the industrial chain, breakthroughs in giant technology, new product releases and iterations, and policy implementation, analysts are optimistic about the development of the robotics industry and the recovery of the sector. It is recommended to pay attention to the following four main lines: 1) High certainty companies in the core of humanoid robots; 2) Robot targets for cooperation with NVIDIA; 3) The target with good performance expectations and a valuation safety cushion; 4) Oversold and strong concept stocks.