A new age of human-looking, multi-tasking robots may be here sooner than you think, says Vinod Khosla.
In an episode of the “Uncapped” podcast published on Tuesday, the billionaire venture capitalist predicted that robots that don’t need to be programmed would be available in a few years. The 70-year-old VC’s notable investments include OpenAI, DoorDash, Block, and Impossible Foods.
“Robotics will take a little longer, but I think we’ll have the ChatGPT moment in the next two to three years,” he said.
Khosla said that these robots will most likely be humanoid. He said there will be enough demand for them to lower costs.
“Almost everybody in the 2030s will have a humanoid robot at home,” he said. “Probably start with something narrow like do your cooking for you. It can chop vegetables, cook food, clean dishes, but stays within the kitchen environment.”
He estimated that these robots would cost $300 to $400 a month, which would be affordable for anyone who already gets house help.
Khosla said that some robots already exist and those made by Chinese companies are “pretty damn amazing,” but they come with a big drawback.
“They’re not learning robots. You change the environment and they don’t do as well,” he said. “If you walk a human in here and say clean up, they’ll know what to do. A robot needs to do that.”
In response to a question about why a hardware company like Apple has not already built a robot like this, Khosla said innovation has rarely come from large incumbents. Uber, for example, did not come from Hertz, nor was Netflix a product of major networks.
Several tech leaders have said they are making big bets on robotics and physical AI.
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Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has been vocal about a future dominated by physical AI, where robots will play a significant role in both industries and daily life.
“I love the idea that I’ll have my own R2-D2, my own C-3PO — my R2 will be following me, and for many people just growing up now, they’ll have their own personal R2 with them for their lives,” he said in September.
Last week, at the company’s annual investor meeting, Huang said that AI and robotics are one of the biggest growth areas for the chipmaker. They represent “a multitrillion-dollar growth opportunity.”
He added that autonomous vehicles, which he said will be the first commercial application of robotics, are a big focus for Nvidia.
On Monday, Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, said robotics represent a growth area for head count.
“We’re going to hire more people in AI and more people in robotics,” he said in an interview with CNBC.
