NVIDIA Declares "ChatGPT Moment for Robotics" with Physical AI Breakthrough

NVIDIA unveils revolutionary physical AI models and flagship Vera Rubin platform at CES 2026, enabling robots to understand the real world and reason through complex physical tasks autonomously.

by Cody RodeoUpdated Feb 17, 2026 • 3:19 AM
NVIDIA Declares "ChatGPT Moment for Robotics" with Physical AI BreakthroughPhoto by Alex Knight on Unsplash

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang declared "The ChatGPT moment for robotics is here" at CES 2026, as the company unveiled groundbreaking open models, frameworks and AI infrastructure for physical AI—technology that enables robots to understand the physical world, reason, and plan actions autonomously.

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The announcement centers on NVIDIA's flagship AI platform codenamed "Vera Rubin," following the highly successful Blackwell architecture. Vera Rubin delivers radical improvements in processing power and memory bandwidth, specifically optimized for the computational demands of robots that must perceive, reason about, and interact with complex three-dimensional environments in real time.

"Breakthroughs in physical AI are unlocking entirely new applications," Huang emphasized during his keynote. The technology represents a fundamental shift from traditional AI that processes text and images to systems that can navigate warehouses, manipulate objects with precision, and collaborate safely alongside humans in manufacturing facilities.

Global partners showcased next-generation robots powered by NVIDIA's physical AI technology during CES, demonstrating capabilities from autonomous delivery vehicles to surgical assistance robots. The platform provides pre-trained models that significantly reduce the time and cost required to develop robotic applications, democratizing access to advanced robotics capabilities.

Industry analysts suggest this announcement positions NVIDIA to dominate the emerging physical AI market, which is projected to grow exponentially as manufacturers, logistics companies, and healthcare providers adopt autonomous robotic systems to address labor shortages and improve operational efficiency.