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Nvidia's humanoid robot push relies on hands made by China-linked startups
Nvidia's humanoid robot push relies on robotic hands from China-linked startups Sharpa and Wuji
Key points
- Nvidia has showcased two humanoid robot training packages in a few months, with hands from Sharpa and Wuji.
- Sharpa is headquartered in Singapore and was co-founded by David Li, CEO of Shanghai-based lidar company Hesai.
- Google DeepMind research lead Keerthana Gopalakrishnan compared the two startups in a podcast last month.
Why it matters. Chinese firms still supply key robotic hands for many U.S. tech efforts, and JoyIn's Zhu Mingxuan said hands are the main challenge for humanoid development.
Nvidia has showcased two humanoid training kits, one using hands from Sharpa and another from Wuji, which was founded in 2019 by Pan Yunzhe. Wuji's backers include Ant Group, HSG and Future Capital, according to PitchBook. On Oct. 21 in Berlin, Jensen Huang showed a Wuji Hand 2 on a slide while describing the Agile One SN system, whose robot body comes from Agile Robots. Nvidia said Stanford and ETH Zurich can likely start using that system in early 2027.
Latest updates
Nvidia's humanoid robot push relies on hands made by China-linked startups
CNBC reports that Nvidia's humanoid robot systems feature mechanical hands produced by China-linked startups. The report comes from its China Connection newsletter, which examines business developments in China. CNBC says Chinese robot companies still underpin many U.S. technology efforts in the sector. The dependence raises questions about supply chains for U.S. humanoid robotics. The newsletter is based on reporting from Beijing.