Introduction
Nvidia, a leader in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software, is set to continue its hot streak from 2024 into 2025 with a series of AI-centric announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday. The company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, took center stage during the keynote, outlining his vision for the future of AI-powered technologies.
Stock Price Jumps Ahead of Keynote
As Wall Street braced for Nvidia’s latest offerings, its stock price jumped as high as 4.7% ahead of the keynote on Monday. The company’s stock has seen a significant increase in value over the last 12 months, rising by a staggering 205%. This surge can be attributed to Nvidia’s prescient investments in AI hardware and its CUDA software, which enables developers to utilize its chips for running AI programs.
New Blackwell-Based Chip: GB10 Superchip
During Monday’s event, Huang showcased Nvidia’s newest Blackwell-based chip, the GB10 superchip. This pint-sized version of the GB200 superchip combines a Grace central processing unit (CPU) with two Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs). The smaller GB10 pairs a Grace CPU and Blackwell GPU, making it an ideal solution for researchers who need to prototype, fine-tune, and run large AI models.
Nvidia’s latest announcement revealed that the chip will be available in a small desktop system called Project DIGITS. This setup comes with 128GB of memory and 4TB of storage, making it a powerful tool for researchers and developers alike. Project DIGITS is set to start at $3,000 and become available in May from Nvidia and its OEM partners.
AI Robots and Self-Driving Trucks
Beyond the new chip and desktop, Nvidia also debuted its open model license Cosmos platform for developing physical AI systems. This platform utilizes world foundation models (WFMs), which simulate conditions in the real world. Physical AI systems include technologies like humanoid robots and self-driving cars.
The idea behind Cosmos is to enable companies to develop the software needed to power robots and self-driving cars by simulating various usage scenarios in a virtual setting without having to use pricey robots or putting cars on the road in the real world.
Isaac GROOT Blueprint for Training Humanoid Robots
In addition to Cosmos, Nvidia introduced its Isaac GROOT Blueprint for training humanoid robots. This software connects to Apple’s Vision Pro headset and allows developers to perform and record specific movements they want to teach a robot. Isaac GROOT Blueprint then takes those movements and synthesizes them, providing the robot with an enormous set of movements based on the developer’s original motions.
Engineers often have to teach humanoid robots by performing repetitive movements that the bot can follow and understand on its own. It’s normally a time-consuming affair, but with the Isaac GROOT Blueprint, Nvidia says developers will be able to cut down on the time needed to create future humanoid robotics systems.
Automotive Advancements
On the automotive front, Nvidia announced that Toyota will begin using the company’s DRIVE AGX Orin chip and the Nvidia DriveOS operating system to power the automaker’s advanced driver assistance features in its next-generation vehicles. "The AV revolution has arrived," Huang said during the keynote. "I predict that this will likely be the first multi-trillion-dollar robotics industry."
Nvidia also entered into an agreement with automotive company Continental and self-driving truck company Aurora, which will see the transportation firms use Nvidia’s DRIVE hardware and DriveOS software alongside Aurora’s level 4 autonomous driving system called Aurora Driver. Continental and Aurora plan to bring autonomous trucks hauling freight to roads beginning in 2027.
Nvidia’s Automotive and Robotics Segments
Nvidia’s Automotive and Robotics segments still make up a relatively small portion of its overall revenue. In Q3, the division brought in $449 million compared to its Data Center business, which generated $30.8 billion of its $35.1 billion in total revenue. However, Automotive and Robotics is growing, with sales climbing 72% year over year in the quarter.
AI Agents
Finally, Nvidia announced a number of AI software and hardware offerings, including its AI Blueprints, agentic AI apps that will allow developers to build and launch their own custom AI models. These AI agents can be trained on various tasks, such as data processing, image recognition, or natural language processing.
Nvidia also stated that users running its latest RTX graphics cards will now be able to launch foundation models using its Nvidia NIM platform. Essentially, the company is enabling AI capabilities for standard graphics cards via its NIM service, which should open up broader opportunities for software developers and help it court more customers moving forward.
Conclusion
Nvidia’s AI-powered announcements at CES are set to revolutionize various industries, from robotics and automotive to software development. With its continued focus on innovation and research, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI solutions. As the industry continues to evolve, one thing is certain: Nvidia will be at the forefront of the AI revolution.
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