NVIDIA leads in humanoid robot AI accelerator market as qualcomm and intel rise

Counterpoint Research predicts global shipments of AI accelerators for humanoid robots will surpass 1 million units by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 144% between 2026 and 2030. NVIDIA currently dominates the GPU market for humanoid robots, offering a full-stack ecosystem of chips, models, and simulation tools, and has partnered with major robot manufacturers. Qualcomm is entering the market with its heterogeneous computing architecture, emphasizing energy efficiency and lower material costs, but remains behind NVIDIA in shipment volume. Counterpoint’s Chief Analyst, Soumen Mandal, notes the shift from GPU dominance to a coexistence of multiple AI architectures. Ethan Qi, Counterpoint’s Deputy Director, highlights that GPUs remain the preferred choice for deploying advanced embodied models, while automotive companies like Tesla are driving the adoption of ASICs. Tesla and XPeng are leveraging their automotive expertise and self-developed chips to reshape the AI accelerator landscape. D-Robotics, spun out from Horizon, is strengthening China’s autonomous capabilities through its RDK S100 development kit, which features an 80 TOPS BPU.