“Physical AI” is coming to your car

Physical AI sounds like a contradiction in terms. A computer, but a body?

But for marketing architects, it is the newest term of art, a buzzword meant to point us citizens toward a bright and promising technological future.

Here on Earth, the term is perhaps most useful for understanding how automotive companies currently think of themselves: as technology pioneers. It’s also a handy shortcut to understanding how appetizing the automotive industry is to the companies that make chips – which could be a $123 billion opportunity by 2032, up about 85 percent from 2023. There were always some silly robot demos at the massive CES consumer technology trade show just taking place in Las Vegas, but this year’s presentations showed how the world of robots, cars and chipsets is becoming ever closer together.

First, to define (marketing) terms: “Physical AI” is the way technology developers ultimately hope autonomous systems will interact with the real world, using camera and sensor data to…