Alibaba Chairman Questions Future Of Humanoid Robots After Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Predicts Factory Adoption Within 5 Years: 'Don't Need Machines To Replace Humans'

As Nvidia Corporation NVDA CEO Jensen Huang touts the arrival of humanoid robots in factories within five years, Alibaba Group Holdings, Ltd BABA chairman Joe Tsai is taking a more skeptical stance—questioning both the practicality and philosophical implications of human-like machines.

What Happened: Speaking at Alibaba's Jumpstarter event in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Tsai expressed doubt about the push to develop humanoid robots, asking, "What is the application of a humanoid?"

"I want machines to do things I don't want to do, but I don't need machines to replace humans in doing things that I want to do," he said, reported the South China Morning Post, which is also owned by Alibaba.

While acknowledging AI's growing utility, Tsai said much of what humans value—such as emotional intelligence and compassion—is not captured in machine learning data.

"All the positive encounters that you have with people that you love… how does the machine capture that data to replicate the positive energy?" he asked.

Why It's Important: During his keynote speech at Nvidia's annual developer conference in San Jose, California, Huang said it may be "when, literally, humanoid robots are wandering around, which is not five years away. This is not five-years-away problem; this is a few-years-away problem."

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Huang believes that humanoid robots will see their earliest widespread adoption in the manufacturing sector. He explained that factory work involves well-defined tasks carried out in a controlled setting, making it easier to automate.

Previously, Elon Musk also said that Tesla, Inc. TSLA plans to produce several thousand Optimus robots this year, assigning them to handle unpopular tasks at the company’s factory by year-end.

Meanwhile, Jim Cramer has warned against reducing AI computational capabilities, following Tsai’s earlier comments on a potential data center bubble.

Speaking at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong, Tsai cautioned that tech companies and investment funds are pouring billions into infrastructure without a well-defined customer base.

Alibaba is also actively integrating AI into various sectors, including a partnership with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMWKY to develop AI-powered smart assistants for next-generation vehicles.

Price Action: Alibaba’s stock edged up 0.033% in after-hours trading to $132.28 after closing at $132.24 on Wednesday, reflecting a 0.38% drop during regular trading. Despite this, the stock has gained 55.67% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Meanwhile, Nvidia shares fell 5.74% on Wednesday, closing at $113.76. The decline continued after hours, with the stock slipping another 1.36% to $112.21.

According to Benzinga’s Edge Rankings, Alibaba (BABA) holds a growth rating of 73.69%. Want to see how Nvidia measures up? Click here for the full analysis.