Amulya Vishwanath, who spent seven years leading product marketing for NVIDIA‘s robotics platforms, is now founder and managing partner of Techable VC, an early-stage firm investing in physical AI. On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, she told Dominic-Madori Davis that robotics is currently in its ‘Lego era,’ with fundamental components like actuators, robotic hands, software, and safety standards still being rebuilt. That position runs counter to the idea that robotics is about to have its ‘ChatGPT moment’ through a single general foundation model. General Intuition CEO Pim de Witte had earlier told Equity that such a model would make much of today’s specialized robotics work redundant.

Vishwanath defines physical AI as more than robots: ‘a molecule, a material, a medicine,’ or a machine on a factory line. She is writing checks across robotics, materials science, and life sciences. She also discussed what she calls ‘conscious automation’ and said the best opportunities solve large problems, such as family-run factories that can’t find workers or surgeons facing burnout. She wants founders to treat their VC as their moat, and says her years at NVIDIA built the network she now uses for due diligence and customer introductions.

The conversation also covered where the U.S. and China each have an edge, and why humanoids should be good for more than dancing. Vishwanath is one of the first women executives to spin out of Nvidia and launch her own early-stage firm. The full episode is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and other platforms.