Earlier this month, headlines focused on NVIDIA’s $5B investment in Intel Corporation. It was another reminder of how deeply NVIDIA is tied to the global AI and semiconductor ecosystem.
That story is familiar. NVIDIA has a long history of investing in AI companies, almost always tied to GPU demand. More AI training and inference means more GPUs sold.
But another story is unfolding — one that’s easier to miss.
In the past 18 months, NVIDIA has participated in eight investments across seven robotics startups. Unlike the obvious AI plays, these are about building the foundational platform for robotics development.
Robotics is harder than software AI. Robots must perceive, plan, and act in unpredictable real-world settings, and NVIDIA is positioning itself as the full-stack enabler:
- Jetson & GPUs: Compact, efficient compute for perception, detection, and grasping.
- Omniverse, Isaac, OpenUSD: Software to create digital twins and train robots in simulation.
- Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab: Tools to transfer training from simulation directly into physical robots.
These investments are platform moves: Startups building novel robots anchor NVIDIA chips as the compute backbone. Companies pushing autonomy and dexterity expand the need for Omniverse simulations.
Eight investments in seven startups in 18 months send a clear signal: NVIDIA doesn’t just power today’s AI models.
It’s laying claim to tomorrow’s robots.
This post was first published on LinkedIn in October 2025.
This post was first published on LinkedIn in October 2025.
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