In a significant leap towards artificial general intelligence, NVIDIA has announced Project GR00T, a general-purpose multimodal foundation model designed to power the next generation of humanoid robots. The announcement, made at the company's annual GTC developer conference, marks a major milestone in the field of embodied AI.
Project GR00T, which stands for Generalist Robot 00 Technology, is set to revolutionize the way humanoid robots learn and interact with the world around them. The model enables robots to understand natural language, emulate human movements, and quickly learn new skills by observing human actions. This breakthrough technology promises to bridge the gap between AI and the physical world, paving the way for more versatile and intelligent robots.
To support the development of GR00T-powered humanoids, NVIDIA also introduced Jetson Thor, a new computing platform optimized for performance, power, and size. The system-on-a-chip (SoC) features a next-generation GPU based on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, delivering an impressive 800 teraflops of AI performance. This powerful hardware will allow robots to run complex multimodal generative AI models like GR00T, significantly simplifying the design and integration process for robotics developers.
NVIDIA has already partnered with several leading humanoid robot companies, including Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Sanctuary AI, to integrate GR00T into their existing platforms. These collaborations highlight the industry's growing interest in embodied AI and the potential for humanoid robots to transform various sectors, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and beyond.
Alongside Project GR00T, NVIDIA announced major updates to its Isaac robotics platform, which provides developers with a comprehensive suite of tools for creating AI-powered robots. The new Isaac Lab, built on the Isaac Sim platform, enables robot learning through parallel simulations in a GPU-accelerated virtual environment. Additionally, the OSMO compute orchestration service streamlines the management of training and simulation workloads across distributed computing resources.
The Isaac platform also introduces two new offerings: Isaac Manipulator and Isaac Perceptor. Isaac Manipulator provides state-of-the-art dexterity and modular AI capabilities for robotic arms, while Isaac Perceptor equips autonomous mobile robots with multi-camera, 360-degree vision capabilities for navigating unstructured environments.
As the race to develop advanced humanoid robots intensifies, NVIDIA's Project GR00T and its accompanying technologies are set to play a crucial role in shaping the future of embodied AI. By democratizing access to cutting-edge AI tools and hardware, NVIDIA is empowering developers to push the boundaries of what's possible in the field of robotics, bringing us one step closer to a world where intelligent, versatile robots can work alongside humans to tackle complex challenges.