By Jeffrey Burt
Publication Date: 2026-02-04 19:58:00
During his more than two decades with Nvidia, Rev Lebaredian has had a ringside seat to the show that has been the evolution of modern AI, from the introduction of the AlexNet deep convolutional neural network that made waves by drastically lowering the error rate at the 2012 ImageNet challenge to the introduction of generative AI and now agentic AI, where systems can create AI assistance to help with knowledge work.
That said, the next step will be even more significant.
“The real value of AI is going to express itself when we apply it to the physical world, in the era that is coming that we call ‘physical AI,’” Lebaredian, vice president of Omniverse and simulation at Nvidia, said during a press briefing this week. “With physical AI grounded in the laws of physics, AI that understands the physical world and how things in the world operate, we can unlock incredible use cases from design and engineering, digital biology, material sciences, and the ultimate expression of physical AI, which is general robotics.”
However, he added, to do this, “we first have to model the world inside a computer. We need to represent the physical world accurately so that we can design, build, and operate things in the real world.”
For this, Nvidia is expanding its 25-year partnership with Dassault Systemes, a French company that over the past 45 years has developed digital twin technologies. The two companies will combine Nvidia’s AI infrastructure, open models, and…