Foxconn has entered into a strategic cooperation with NVIDIA, an American artificial intelligence (AI) chip design company, to develop humanoid robots. Young Liu, chairman of Honghai, said during the Kaohsiung Smart City Conference that Honghai will use NVIDIA's software and hardware platforms to develop robots with human characteristics, and use Kaohsiung as a starting point for launching humanoid robot services.
At present, Honghai has introduced non-humanoid robots on its production line, using NVIDIA's technology to automate production. The partnership with NVIDIA aims to promote the research and development of humanoid robots, especially through the expansion of these robots into the service industry, including other fields such as the medical industry.
Cross-industry cooperation and smart city layout
Liu Yangwei revealed that Honghai is working closely with NVIDIA to promote the development of humanoid robot technology with the help of its advanced AI software and hardware technology. The company not only plans to introduce humanoid robots to Kaohsiung, but will also cooperate with local governments such as Taipei and Keelung to further promote the construction of smart cities. Honghai's goal is to provide software developers with access to smart city construction by integrating resources, thereby creating an environment with the characteristics of "sovereign AI", that is, the country uses autonomous infrastructure, data, labor, and business networks to develop AI.
Globally, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said that robots will be the next wave of AI technology development, and he predicts that future innovation will revolve around humanoid robots and self-driving cars. Therefore, the cooperation between Honghai and NVIDIA is not only of great significance to the industry, but also lays the foundation for the development of AI technology in the future.
Figure: Foxconn and NVIDIA cooperate to develop humanoid robots (source from network)
Strong sales growth and AI infrastructure
Honghai recently announced its 2023 financial report, which shows that the company achieved record sales last year, reaching NT$6.86 trillion, up 11.37% year-on-year. This growth was mainly driven by the strong global demand for AI applications. Especially in the fourth quarter of 2023, Honghai's sales growth exceeded analysts' expectations, mainly benefiting from the accelerated construction of AI infrastructure.
In 2024, Honghai expects sales to exceed NT$7 trillion (US$212.7 billion), a growth driven by the continued boom in AI applications. In December last year, Honghai's sales increased by 42.31% year-on-year to NT$654.83 billion, which also exceeded analysts' expectations. Honghai said that this increase was partly due to a small shipment of GB200 servers equipped with Nvidia's advanced Blackwell graphics processing unit (GPU).
The AI server market has a bright future
In addition, Honghai is also expected to start mass production of AI servers in January 2024 and expects to achieve significant sales growth in the first quarter of this year. Due to the strong demand in the global market, AI servers are expected to account for 50% of Honghai server sales this year. The company expects that AI server shipments will continue to grow every quarter, becoming the most important factor driving sales growth in Honghai.
In the context of the acceleration of global AI infrastructure construction, Honghai is actively promoting its own layout in the AI field through collaboration with NVIDIA and other partners, which not only enhances its competitiveness in the global market, but also lays a solid foundation for the development of intelligent robots and autonomous driving technology in the future.
Future outlook
Through this cooperation with NVIDIA, Honghai will further expand its influence in the field of AI, especially in the field of humanoid robots and AI servers. With the continuous advancement of smart city construction, Honghai will not only help the local government improve the level of urban intelligence, but also occupy an important position in the global AI industry chain. In the future, Honghai will continue to increase investment in AI technology research and development and product innovation to meet a more intelligent future.
