Major tech companies are making bold moves into robotics, signaling a new phase in the artificial intelligence competition.

The OpenAI factor

OpenAI's launch of its first dedicated robotics team marks a significant shift for the ChatGPT creator. The company is actively recruiting hardware specialists and mechanical engineers, suggesting that Sam Altman sees physical robots, not just cloud-based AI, as crucial to achieving artificial general intelligence.

Big tech moves

OpenAI isn't alone in this pursuit. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang told the CES 2025 audience that robotics and AI are converging into what he calls "Physical AI" - systems that combine digital intelligence with mechanical capabilities. The company launched Cosmos, a new platform for developing physically-aware AI systems, positioning NVIDIA to capitalize on what Huang projects will be a $50 trillion market opportunity. Meanwhile, Lenovo unveiled new retail robots developed with Yunji Technology that have successfully managed over 90% of guest requests in hotel pilots.

Technical hurdles

Yet significant challenges remain. Current robots struggle to match human dexterity, with the human hand's 30 muscles, 27 joints, and 17,000 touch receptors proving difficult to replicate. While robots like DEX-EE and Tesla's Optimus show promise, experts believe full human-like dexterity is still at least five years away.

The data advantage

One promising development is robots' ability to generate their own training data. Unlike language models that rely on internet-sourced information, physical robots can collect vast amounts of real-world data through sensors and cameras. This continuous stream of unfiltered data could accelerate development of more capable systems.

What's next

The robotics race is heating up. While tech giants build general-purpose platforms, startups are targeting specific applications. Realbotix recently unveiled Aria, a $175,000 humanoid companion robot, while researchers at UC San Diego developed ExBody2, a system enabling robots to mirror human movements with unprecedented fluidity.

The next few years will likely determine which companies successfully bridge the gap between AI and robotics. Will OpenAI's expertise in large language models translate to physical systems? Can NVIDIA's computing dominance extend to robots? The answers to these questions could reshape not just the tech industry, but our physical world.

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