The US artificial intelligence chips company Nvidia and Taiwan's Foxconn have agreed to utilize humanoid robots at a new Foxconn factory in Houston that will produce Nvidia AI servers.
The adoption of the human-like robots that have the potential to revolutionize manufacturing processes would reach a significant milestone with a deployment, which is anticipated to be finalized in the next months.
In addition to testing humanoids produced by China's UBTech, Foxconn is working with Nvidia to develop its own humanoid robots.
According to reports, it is unclear what kind of humanoid robots will be used in the Houston factory, how many will be deployed initially, and what their appearance will be.
Additionally, Foxconn has been training the robots to pick and put objects, insert wires, and do assembly tasks, though it was unclear exactly what the robots would be doing at the factory.
Since Foxconn's Houston plant will be brand-new and have more room than other AI server manufacturing locations, it was the perfect location to implement humanoid robots.
At an industry event in Taipei last month, Leo Guo, general manager of the robotics business unit at Foxconn Industrial Internet, a Foxconn subsidiary that oversees the group's AI server business, stated that Foxconn intends to display two of its developed humanoid robots at the company's annual technology event in November.
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He stated without providing specifics that one of those will have legs, while the other will use a wheeled autonomous mobile robot (AMR) basis, which would be less expensive than the leg-equipped model.
In April, Nvidia revealed plans to establish AI supercomputer production facilities in Texas, collaborating with Wistron in Dallas and Foxconn in Houston. Production is anticipated to increase at both locations in 12 to 15 months.
Since Nvidia currently provides humanoid builders with a platform to build such robots, the employment of humanoid robots in the production of its AI servers signals a further push into the technology.
In March, Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, forecast that it would be less than five years before they were widely used in production facilities.
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Humanoids have been tested on production lines by automakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in Germany, and Tesla is creating its own. China has also thrown its support behind humanoids, speculating that these robots will eventually handle a large number of industry duties.