“This is not science fiction,” declared Jensen Huang, boss of chip giant Nvidia, in June, referring to the use of AI to instruct robots to carry out real world tasks. “The next wave of AI is physical AI. AI that understands the laws of physics, AI that can work among us.” In many ways this robotics revolution seems long overdue. For decades, people have envisioned living alongside humanoid domestic droids capable of doing their mundane chores. But after years of slow progress, researchers now appear to be on the cusp of the dramatic advances required to create a new generation of automatons. AI has powered a number of recent research breakthroughs that have brought complex tasks that had previously separated humans from robots within reach. While the multi-purpose machine helper capable of doing everything a human can, only better, is still a way off, the fact a robot can put a T-shirt on a coat hanger is a sign that this is now possible. Such developments could be transformative in the fields of homecare, health and manufacturing — and investors are taking note. The excitement around recent advances is attracting growing interest and large sums of cash from a welter of researchers, big tech companies and investors, even if the quantum leap in funding has not quite arrived. More than $11bn of robotics and drone venture capital deals had been done as of late October, surpassing last year’s $9.72bn but not quite reaching the $13.23bn of 2022, according to PitchBook.

Full feature : Advances in physical AI mean machines are learning skills previously thought impossible.