Nvidia believes physical AI could change the $50 trillion manufacturing and logistics industries and wants to lead in this area, as reported by Yahoo Finance. At CES, Nvidia introduced new AI models to teach robots how to understand and interact with the world, plus hardware to power them. Nvidia also revealed Alpamayo, a new AI model for self-driving cars, which uses chain-of-thought reasoning and vision-language-action technology.
Robotics AI models
Alpamayo can recognize unusual driving situations, like a traffic light being out, and figure out how to act safely. The model is meant to act as a “large-scale teacher” for developers, helping them improve self-driving car systems over time. Companies like Lucid, Uber, and Berkeley DeepDrive are interested in using Alpamayo.
Self-driving cars are growing worldwide, led by Google’s Waymo, but they are still not perfect and sometimes cause confusion or traffic jams, as stated by Yahoo Finance. Nvidia believes virtual training can help AI models learn safely without putting cars on the road all the time.
Nvidia Stock drop
Nvidia shares fell 0.4% in after-hours trading after Huang’s CES keynote, as noted by Reuters. Huang emphasized the importance of open-sourcing AI models and training data, saying: “Only in that way can you truly trust how the models came to be”. Competitors like Intel and AMD also presented at CES, with Intel’s share mostly stable and AMD falling 1.1% after-hours.
CES is seen as a “gut-check” for AI hardware in 2026, with investors looking for real roadmaps and proof chipmakers can deliver. Memory supply is tightening because manufacturers focus on AI servers, pushing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) prices higher and creating a potential “supercycle” in the industry.
Intel, AMD, and Samsung at CES
Intel plans to show its Panther Lake laptop chip at CES, which tests its 18A manufacturing process, though the company has faced issues with production yield, as stated by Reuters. AMD’s CEO Lisa Su is scheduled for a keynote at 9:30 p.m. EST, also under investor scrutiny. Nvidia faces competition from chipmakers expanding into AI PCs and data centers, while big customers want more control over the silicon running AI workloads.Samsung said the memory shortage is “unprecedented”, as AI demand takes chips normally used for phones and electronics. Samsung plans to double devices with “Galaxy AI” features to 800 million units in 2026, many powered by Google’s Gemini. Higher memory prices are affecting smartphone margins, and Samsung may increase product prices; the company’s shares rose 7.5% in Seoul trading.
Memory prices can fall if supply increases or demand slows, and CES launches can disappoint if specs or shipment timelines are delayed. Investors are watching Intel’s 6 p.m. presentation and AMD’s 9:30 p.m. keynote for details on specs, shipments, and Nvidia’s future pricing power.
FAQs
Q1. What new robots did Nvidia show at CES 2026?
Nvidia introduced new humanoid robots and AI models for self-driving cars at CES 2026.
Q2. How did Nvidia stock react after CES 2026?
Nvidia stock slipped slightly in after-hours trading following the CES 2026 keynote.
