While Tesla Builds Optimus, Nvidia Is Building The Brain Of Humanoid Robots

There’s a quiet race unfolding in the world of robotics — and it’s no longer just science fiction. On one side, you’ve got Tesla, Inc. making headlines with its ever-evolving Optimus humanoid robot. On the other? Nvidia Corporation just dropped something that could redefine the entire category.

Let’s talk about Isaac GR00T N1.

Nvidia’s Bold Bet On Humanoid Intelligence

Earlier this month at GTC 2025, Nvidia unveiled Isaac GR00T N1 — the world’s first humanoid robot foundation model.

Think of it as GPT for robots. But instead of writing emails or poems, this model is trained to understand physical space, manipulate objects, and even coordinate full-body motion. It combines vision, language, and motor skills into a single neural network — designed to run on Nvidia’s own AI supercomputers like DGX and the new Jetson Thor platform.

What’s wild is this: Nvidia isn’t building the robot itself — it’s building the brain for anyone else who is.

So, What Is Isaac GR00T N1 Capable Of…

Nvidia’s GR00T model (Generalist Robot 00 Technology) is trained in simulation and then deployed to real-world robots via Isaac Lab — Nvidia’s high-performance robotics simulator.

It can learn complex tasks through imitation and reinforcement learning, adapt across different robot platforms and morphologies, and collaborate in multi-agent environments.

And it’s not just theoretical.

Nvidia announced partnerships with robotics companies like Boston Dynamics (known for Atlas), Agility Robotics (makers of Digit), Sanctuary AI, Unitree Robotics, and Apptronik — all testing GR00T as a general-purpose robotics foundation.

How Tesla Optimus Is Faring 

On the other hand, Elon Musk’s Optimus humanoid robot has attracted significant global attention since its 2022 debut, with the Tesla CEO already predicting that the project alone could generate over $10 trillion in revenue.

Musk first introduced Optimus in 2021 and showcased a prototype the following year. He previously estimated that Optimus could be priced between $20,000 and $30,000.

At a recent all-hands meeting last week, Musk highlighted Optimus's rapid progress, calling it the most sophisticated humanoid robot on Earth. He credited Tesla’s advancements in AI, electric motors, batteries, and large-scale manufacturing as crucial in making mass production both viable and affordable.

Earlier, Musk also revealed that Optimus is already performing certain tasks within Tesla’s factories and improving at a rapid pace.

In October, Tesla featured its Optimus robots at its robotaxi unveiling event in Los Angeles, where about 20 of them moved through the crowd, served drinks, handed out snacks, and even performed dance routines.

However, Milan Kovac, Tesla’s Head of Engineering for Optimus, later acknowledged in a post on X that the robots were partially human-assisted during the demonstration to illustrate the company's vision.

What The Future Holds

We’ve spent the last few years watching AI transform the digital world. Now, it is being embedded into physical machines.

Goldman Sachs estimates the global humanoid robot market will reach $38 billion by 2035. The investment firm expects that within five years, 250,000 humanoid robots—primarily for industrial use—will be shipped annually, with consumer demand projected to reach one million units per year within a decade.

This is the next wave: AI-powered robots that can see, move, and interact with the real world — not just through code but through presence.

And while Tesla is focused on building the robot, Nvidia is quietly making itself indispensable by building the infrastructure and software stack that could power them all.

The comparison is striking: Tesla = iPhone. Nvidia = Android.

Who wins? Possibly both. But in a world where humanoid robots become viable labor, the real winner might be the one who becomes the platform.

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