Alibaba Chairman Questions Future of Humanoid Robots Amid Nvidia's Optimism

Nvidia Corporation CEO Jensen Huang has predicted the emergence of humanoid robots in factories within the next five years. In contrast, Joe Tsai, the chairman of Alibaba Group Holdings, Ltd, is expressing skepticism regarding the practical applications and ethical considerations of such human-like machines.

What Happened: At Alibaba's Jumpstarter event held in Hong Kong, Tsai questioned the necessity and function of humanoid robots, asking, "What is the application of a humanoid?"

He stated, "I want machines to do things I don't want to do, but I don't need machines to replace humans in doing things that I want to do," according to a report from the South China Morning Post, which Alibaba owns.

AI's Role: Tsai recognized the growing usefulness of artificial intelligence (AI) but pointed out that many human qualities—including emotional intelligence and compassion—are not well represented in machine learning data. He pondered, "All the positive encounters that you have with people that you love… how does the machine capture that data to replicate the positive energy?"

Why It's Important: During his keynote speech at Nvidia's developer conference in San Jose, Huang argued that humanoid robots are not a distant possibility. He believes that their integration into factories will occur relatively quickly since factory environments typically contain well-defined tasks suitable for automation.

Previously, Elon Musk also mentioned Tesla, Inc. plans to produce several thousand Optimus robots this year, which will be assigned to handle less favorable tasks within their factories by the end of the year.

Industry Concerns: Financial analyst Jim Cramer has cautioned against the reduction of AI's computational capabilities, echoing Tsai’s earlier concerns about a possible data center bubble.

While speaking at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong, Tsai warned that technology companies and investment firms are investing heavily in infrastructure without a clearly defined customer base.

In parallel, Alibaba is actively working to harness AI across various industries, including a collaboration with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to create AI-driven smart assistants for future vehicles.

Market Response: Following these developments, Alibaba’s stock saw a slight increase of 0.033% in after-hours trading, reaching $132.28, after closing at $132.24 during regular hours. Despite a 0.38% drop earlier in the day, Alibaba has seen a year-to-date increase of 55.67%, according to market data. Conversely, Nvidia's shares dropped 5.74% to close at $113.76 and experienced an additional decline of 1.36% in after-hours trading to $112.21.

Based on financial analysis, Alibaba (BABA) holds a growth rating of 73.69%. Yet to see how Nvidia compares? You can click to check the full analysis.

Alibaba, Nvidia, robots