NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA)'s next major growth opportunity may extend beyond data centers and into the physical world, as artificial intelligence moves into robots, autonomous machines and industrial automation.
That is the thesis from Yorkville Ives partner Dan Ives, who said on Yahoo Finance that physical AI could be the "holy grail" for Nvidia, with spending on robotics potentially reaching multiples of today's AI infrastructure spending.
The idea is already showing up in Nvidia's financials. The company said physical AI generated more than $9 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, while CEO Jensen Huang has described robotics and autonomous systems as a major future growth area.
Nvidia's AI Story Is Moving Beyond the Data Center
Physical AI refers to AI systems that interact with the real world — including industrial robots, autonomous vehicles, surgical robots and other machines.
Nvidia's chips and software can serve as the computing layer that allows these systems to perceive their surroundings, process information and make decisions.
That potentially expands Nvidia's addressable market beyond hyperscalers and cloud companies into manufacturing, logistics, health care and transportation.
Nvidia itself said the physical-AI and robotics segment is expected to develop rapidly, although more slowly than hyperscale AI in the near term.
The ETF Offering All
One ETF already positioned across this theme is the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ).
As of Sep. 25, BOTZ held 85 stocks, with Nvidia accounting for 7.83% of the portfolio. But Nvidia is only one piece of the basket.
The ETF's largest positions included Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) at 8.51%, Fanuc at 8.24%, Keyence at 8.07% and ABB at 7.93%. Other holdings included Daifuku, Aurora Innovation and Cognex.
That gives BOTZ exposure not only to the companies supplying AI computing, but also to robotics, machine vision, industrial automation and autonomous systems that could benefit if physical AI adoption accelerates.
Nvidia's $150 Billion Buyback Adds Another Catalyst
The physical AI thesis comes as Nvidia has also announced a record $150 billion increase to its share repurchase authorization, taking the remaining authorization to $235 billion through fiscal 2028.
For BOTZ, the bigger ETF story is increasingly clear: Nvidia could be moving from being primarily the engine behind the AI data center boom to becoming a key computing supplier for an emerging robotics and automation cycle.
