Google DeepMind, Boston Dynamics partner to bring AI to humanoid robots

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 06, 2026 at 19:37  |  2:58  |  CNBC
Speakers
Deirdre Bosa — Anchor/Reporter, CNBC Tech Check

Summary

CNBC's Deirdre Bosa reports on Google DeepMind's partnership with Boston Dynamics and the intensifying autonomous vehicle and humanoid robotics competition. She argues Tesla's autonomy premium is increasingly at risk as Boston Dynamics and Nvidia advance, though the broader full self-driving market is moving closer to mainstream adoption. The segment also highlights Uber and Lyft's bet on a fragmented AV market and Uber's partnership with Lucid.

  • Google DeepMind announced a partnership with Boston Dynamics to bring AI to humanoid robots, with Atlas showcased at CES.
  • Boston Dynamics' Atlas demo was teleoperated but featured fully rotational joints designed for extreme conditions.
  • Nvidia is expanding into autonomous driving and robotics with open, reusable software models that challenge Tesla's full-stack approach.
  • Tesla shares fell 4% as competition in autonomy and robotics raised questions about its valuation premium.
  • Kelly and Deirdre believe full self-driving is approaching mainstream adoption, with Tesla and Waymo leading.
  • Uber and Lyft are betting on a fragmented AV market with many players; Uber shares rose on its Lucid partnership.
  • Baidu's planned London AV launch was noted as an interesting neutral-market test.
Ideas
Deirdre Bosa Anchor/Reporter, CNBC Tech Check 0:25
Tesla autonomy premium faces rising competition.
Autonomy is no longer Tesla's story alone. Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind are advancing humanoid robotics, while Nvidia is pushing open, reusable software models for autonomous driving and robotics that directly challenge Musk's full-stack/data-ownership edge. Although CES also validates Tesla's ship-early/learn-in-the-real-world approach and Musk dismisses Nvidia as the first real FSD competitor, the competition is getting real and fast, and Tesla's autonomy premium may be harder to defend.
TSLA HIGH
Deirdre Bosa Anchor/Reporter, CNBC Tech Check 1:05
Nvidia pushes open AV robotics software.
Nvidia is pushing deeper into autonomous driving and robotics with open, reusable software models designed to run across many systems. This directly challenges Tesla's core dogma that owning the data and full stack creates an insurmountable edge, positioning Nvidia as a cross-platform enabler in AV and robotics.
NVDA MED
Kelly 2:09
Autonomous driving adoption nearing mainstream.
Kelly argues autonomous driving is becoming inevitable and is on the cusp of going mainstream, with Tesla and Waymo leading the full self-driving race and the new Uber-Lucid partnership showing the market is advancing toward mainstream adoption.
Autonomous vehicles MED
Kelly 2:12
Tesla leads inevitable full self-driving adoption.
Kelly expects Tesla to be one of the winners in full self-driving, saying adoption now feels inevitable and that FSD will increasingly be Tesla's and Waymo's, with the market right on the cusp of going mainstream.
TSLA LOW
Deirdre Bosa Anchor/Reporter, CNBC Tech Check 2:30
Rideshares bet on fragmented AV market.
Deirdre says the key question is whether autonomous driving will be dominated by two players like Waymo and Tesla or many. Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft are betting on a fragmented market with many players, which would let them aggregate demand across AV providers; Uber shares are already up on its Lucid partnership.
UBER LYFT MED
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This CNBC video, published January 06, 2026, features Deirdre Bosa, Kelly discussing TSLA, NVDA, Autonomous vehicles, UBER, LYFT. 5 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Deirdre Bosa, Kelly  · Tickers: TSLA, NVDA, Autonomous vehicles, UBER, LYFT