×
Nvidia, Disney, and Google DeepMind go beyond animatronics, partner on Star Wars-inspired AI robots
Written by
Published on
Join our daily newsletter for breaking news, product launches and deals, research breakdowns, and other industry-leading AI coverage
Join Now

Nvidia, Google DeepMind, and Disney Research are collaborating to create AI-powered robots with Star Wars-inspired design and realistic movement capabilities. This cross-industry partnership represents a significant advancement in robotics, combining Nvidia’s computing power with Google DeepMind’s AI expertise and Disney’s entertainment vision. The development could transform theme park experiences while demonstrating practical applications of cutting-edge physics simulation for robotics.

The big picture: At Nvidia’s GTC 2025 keynote, CEO Jensen Huang unveiled Blue, a research robot capable of lifelike movements powered by a new physics engine called Newton.

  • The physics engine, developed collaboratively between the three companies, will be released as open-source software later this year.
  • Blue contains two Nvidia computers inside, enabling real-time simulation capabilities that represent the future of robot training.

Key details: Newton is designed as an open-source framework to empower the entire robotics community.

  • According to Nvidia’s press release, the framework will allow roboticists to “use and distribute the framework freely and contribute cutting-edge research to its development.”
  • Huang demonstrated the robot’s capabilities on stage, including natural movement and voice interaction, before instructing it to “go home.”

Real-world applications: While currently in concept stage, the technology has clear commercial potential in entertainment and eventually home environments.

  • Disney reportedly plans to showcase robots using this technology in its entertainment parks at some point this year, according to a recent Axios report from SXSW.
  • The technology represents early steps toward practical household robots that could perform domestic tasks, though such applications remain future possibilities rather than immediate consumer products.

Why this matters: The collaboration combines Nvidia’s hardware expertise, Google DeepMind’s AI capabilities, and Disney’s creative vision to advance robotics beyond industrial applications into more engaging human-robot interactions.

  • The open-source approach could accelerate progress across the robotics field by democratizing access to sophisticated physics simulation tools.
  • The project demonstrates how entertainment and technology companies can partner to drive innovation with both commercial and research applications.
Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot is absolutely the droid I've been looking for

Recent News

AI could make iPhones obsolete by 2035, Apple exec suggests

Advances in artificial intelligence could render smartphones unnecessary within a decade as technology shifts create opportunities for entirely new types of computing devices.

Neural Namaste: Jhana meditation insights illuminate LLM functionality

Meditation insights challenge fundamental assumptions about consciousness, suggesting closer parallels between human cognition and AI language models than previously recognized.

AI-powered agentic analytics restores business leaders’ data trust

AI agents that automate analysis tasks and identify patterns without prompting offer business leaders a solution as their trust in data-driven decisions has dropped 18% despite increased data volumes.