Nvidia's Les Karpas will discuss why robotics has not yet achieved a breakthrough moment like ChatGPT at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The session, titled 'Robots Are Waiting for Their ChatGPT Moment,' will explore the challenges facing general-purpose robots.
Karpas emphasized that unlike language models, there is no internet-wide dataset for physical AI. Self-driving fleets have built datasets through years of accumulated road miles, but similar scale is lacking in robotics.
The challenge of bridging the digital and physical is why Nvidia created the Real World AI Stage. Karpas will be joined by founders from Shield AI, Colossal Biosciences, FieldAI, and Foxglove to discuss their unique challenges and opportunities.
"The all-too-real problem facing robotics is the lack of a comparable dataset to what OpenAI, Anthropic, and others had for language," said Les Karpas, Nvidia Inception’s Global Head of Physical AI. He added that the same companies trying to solve that data gap are the ones he regularly interfaces with.
The announcement follows the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 event, where Karpas will share insights on the biggest bottleneck in physical AI. Nvidia’s unique perspective comes from its extensive relationships with the startup ecosystem across robotics, automotive, manufacturing, and more.
Karpas did not say when a breakthrough in physical AI will occur, and highlighted the cross-disciplinary skills the robotics industry demands. The session aims to provide insights that could spark new ideas for startups and investors.
Source: techcrunch
