AI Tech / news
Ex-Nvidia robotics exec says sector is still in its 'Lego era'
Amulya Vishwanath, who spent seven years leading product marketing for Nvidia's robotics platforms, says robotics remains in a "Lego era" as its core building blocks are rebuilt, pushing back on expectations of an imminent ChatGPT-style breakthrough.
The investor, now founder and managing partner of Techable VC, points to actuators, robotic hands, software and safety standards as the foundational pieces still being reworked. In her view, the sector's equivalent of a ChatGPT moment can wait.
That position runs counter to the belief held by some founders and investors that a general foundation model will soon deliver a step-change for robotics, comparable to the launch of the ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022.
General Intuition CEO Pim de Witte argued earlier this year that a single general foundation model would make much of today's specialized robotics work redundant.
Vishwanath discussed where Techable VC is writing its first checks. The early-stage firm invests in physical AI across robotics, materials science and life sciences.
She is described as one of the first women executives to spin out of Nvidia and launch her own early-stage investment firm.