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Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How retailers like Lowe's are using AI to make shopping 'simpler, faster, and more fun'
Lowe's is using AI to optimize store layouts and meet changing customer needs. Computer vision models can also offer a lot of potential for retailers. This article is part of "How AI Is Changing Everything," a series on AI adoption across industries. The next time you stop by Lowe's for a new house plant, supplies to prepare for hurricane season, or a part to fix a bathroom leak, the quantity and in-store location of the product will likely have been influenced by artificial intelligence. The home-improvement retailer is using AI systems to develop a greater understanding of fast-changing customer needs and expectations and to optimize its store layouts accordingly. For example, in the case of a plant, AI could predict growing demand for a certain type of seasonal shrub and increase its orders as interest rises, then place the plants in the most obvious in-store location. In the case of hurricane preparedness, sudden weather changes can be taken into account to order larger volumes of flashlights and weather radios. And plumbing items may be placed closer to the front of the store for leaks that require emergency attention during harsh and unpredictable seasons. Chandhu Nair, the senior vice president of data, AI, and innovation at Lowe's, told Business Insider that the technology is allowing the store chain to create more immersive shopping experiences that are also easy and quick to navigate. This effort is being driven by front-of-house retail staff and white-collar workers behind the scenes, who are ensuring that AI augments rather than replaces their jobs. A team-wide effort Nair said that delivering a "simpler, faster, and more fun" physical retail experience requires large volumes of real-world data, like "store traffic patterns" and "local preferences," provided by store associates and customers. It also needs the right tools for Lowe's spatial planning teams to extract meaningful insights from it, he added. Previously, these teams relied largely on manual processes for collecting this information, analyzing it, and putting the insights into practice. Consequently, Nair said it could take months for Lowe's to see any meaningful results. But AI-powered spatial intelligence systems have reduced this to "a fraction of that time." Nair said this is paramount because new product trends are always emerging and disappearing, especially because of social media apps like TikTok. He said, "We can now swap layouts more frequently throughout the year, reflecting what customers in that area need at that time." Besides spatial intelligence and data analysis tools, Lowe's is also exploring the potential of digital twins — a piece of software that generates a virtual version of a physical environment, such as a retail store. Nair said the company has used Nvidia's 3D graphics platform, Omniverse, to create an early-stage app that offers sales and inventory data, automatically sorts stock, generates 3D versions of its physical assets, and more from a single platform. If it ultimately gets adopted, "It would give merchants a way to test and refine layouts digitally before making changes in-store, helping surface the most relevant products in ways that align with how local customers shop," he told BI. AI for smarter shopping Lowe's isn't the only retailer that believes in the potential of AI. Research from Honeywell, a multinational conglomerate, found that 80% of retailers will acquire AI systems over the coming months to better understand customers, create a more efficient shopping experience, and improve worker productivity. Computer vision models, in particular, can also offer a lot of potential for retailers. Vinod Goje, a software engineering leader and AI solutions strategist, told BI that such systems are capable of generating heat maps that signal parts of the store with the most and least foot traffic, allowing workers to place products and design retail layouts more strategically. Goje added that retailers can also install computer vision systems on shelves to ensure products are in the right place and replenished when stock runs low. The tech can also work with AI to show customers personalized offers on in-store smart screens, he said. In the future, agentic AI systems, which are designed to make decisions independent of humans, could disrupt the retail sector even further. Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, told BI that AI agents could find people to fill in for ill employees, order merchandise when stock levels are low, and develop marketing plans in line with available stock. Challenges to consider Of course, as retailers like Lowe's become more reliant on AI to improve efficiencies, concerns are growing that the technology could wipe out millions of blue-collar jobs in the next few years. That said, Nair emphasized that Lowe's approach is to augment staff and not put them out of work; using AI for store-layout optimization requires "human creativity," he said, in addition to "data-powered insights" and "efficient technology." Amid concerns about AI adoption, Nair emphasized that the company isn't using "technology for technology's sake," but rather focusing on solutions that address staff's biggest pain points, based on feedback from in-store and e-commerce teams. Looking ahead Although many of Lowe's AI projects are still in their infancy, Nair is optimistic about their role in the century-old retailer's future. He said his team will continue to "get better at connecting insights and predictions" to "adapt stores even faster" and create "smarter and more personal" experiences for its loyal customers. To do this, Nair and his team will continue to experiment with new AI tools, improve them through "quicker feedback loops," and strive to create "a high-value retail experience that keeps evolving with our customers." He told BI, "We're excited about what's ahead and how AI will help us keep solving problems and fulfilling dreams for the home."
Tatler Asia
16-07-2025
- Automotive
- Tatler Asia
Robots building robots? Inside Nvidia's bold bet on humanoid machines and the next AI boom
Nvidia is now leading a new wave: robots that learn, adapt, and work alongside humans. With its vision for 'robots building robots,' the company is poised to make science fiction a reality. For years, artificial intelligence (AI) lived solely in the digital realm, relegated to displays and devices. But that boundary is disappearing as companies develop new ways for AI to interact with the real world. Nvidia, the chip giant powering the AI revolution, is betting that the next big leap forward isn't just smarter software but real-world robots—machines that think, move and work alongside us. CEO Jensen Huang calls this the 'ChatGPT moment for robotics', referencing the instant in 2022 when AI went mainstream and changed everything. In case you missed it: What can AI do for beauty? L'Oréal and Nvidia's new collaboration might give us a clue At present, Nvidia's robotics division contributes around US$57 million per quarter—a small fraction of the company's earnings, but one that is growing fast. Year over year, the segment has grown by 72 percent. When combined with the wider automotive business, annual revenue reaches US$1.69 billion. Robotics may only account for 1.3 percent of Nvidia's overall revenue, but Huang sees a multitrillion-dollar future—an insight into the bold, restless mind driving this transformation. This optimism is echoed by Goldman Sachs, which predicts the humanoid robotics market will reach US$38 billion by 2035. Though difficult to imagine today, factors such as ageing populations, potential labour shortages and rapid technological breakthroughs point to a future where robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction but science reality. Nvidia is quietly shaping a future where robots learn and adapt as swiftly as humans. This is made possible by powerful AI 'brains' and a digital environment where robots can rehearse millions of real-life scenarios before ever entering the physical world. In this virtual multiverse, machines practise everything from pouring tea to navigating crowded spaces, improving with every attempt. By enabling robots to train in countless situations at once, Nvidia is compressing what used to take years into mere hours—bringing the dream of smart, helpful machines closer to reality. During Huang's keynote speech at the VivaTech conference in Paris, he introduced Grek, a robot resembling a Star Wars droid, trained to walk and interact with its surroundings within Nvidia's Omniverse. This virtual environment enables it to understand the laws of physics and thousands of different scenarios. Above Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang introduced Grek during his keynote speech at VivaTech in Paris Factories of the future: Nvidia's vision of robots building robots Huang's vision extends beyond individual robots to entire manufacturing ecosystems. He envisions factories as 'one gigantic robot orchestrating a whole bunch of robots inside, working with people to build products'. This nested approach—'robots building robots building robots'—is what Nvidia calls 'physical AI'. In Huang's imagined future, factories will operate like a single, coordinated machine, where people and robots work side by side to create the products of tomorrow. These adaptable systems are designed to keep industries running smoothly as the global workforce shrinks and demand for smarter, faster production grows. With the ability to shift gears and solve new challenges in real time, such factories promise greater resilience and efficiency. Above This video from the NVidia website showcases the company's vision for the near future The tech giant's reach goes beyond hardware: it is partnering with automakers such as Toyota and Mercedes-Benz to power their next-generation vehicles. Nvidia is also collaborating with Uber to help self-driving cars learn from millions of real-world journeys. Through partnerships like these, the company is laying the groundwork for a future where automation is not only efficient but endlessly adaptable. Read more: From Nvidia's droid to agile humanoids: meet the next-gen robots shaping the future Nvidia's race to lead the global robotics and AI market Nvidia maintains a dominant 70 to 95 percent market share in AI accelerators, though competition remains fierce. Rivals such as AMD, Intel, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are developing alternative solutions. However, Nvidia's CUDA platform remains deeply embedded among developers, creating significant switching costs for companies reliant on its ecosystem. In response to intensifying competition, Nvidia has accelerated its product roadmap, now planning to upgrade its AI accelerators annually—doubling its previous development pace. This aggressive timeline is designed to help the company maintain its technological edge as others catch up. As the 'ChatGPT moment for robotics' approaches, Nvidia is positioning itself not merely as a chip manufacturer but as the foundational infrastructure for humanity's next leap forward: an age of intelligent, adaptable machines working alongside humans to reshape manufacturing, transportation and everyday life.
Mint
08-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
How Unilever used AI to make soap go viral
Unilever is turbocharging its influencer marketing efforts in an attempt to make products like Dove soap go viral on social media—and it's using artificial intelligence to do it. Currently the company works with tens of thousands of influencers and is aiming to grow that by 10 to 20 times over the next year, said Chief Enterprise and Technology Officer Steve McCrystal. Influencer marketing, he said, is 'a very powerful avenue for driving growth, and equally we believe it's also powerful for creating credibility." About half of consumers make purchases at least once a month because of influencer content, he said, citing research from social media software company Sprout Social. Influencers promote Unilever products like Vaseline and TRESemmé hair care, and more recently were integral in helping a cookie-scented line of Dove body-care products go viral, the company said. In February, Unilever replaced its CEO in an attempt to speed up a major turnaround plan. For years, the company has faced analyst and investor pressure to reinvigorate growth and meet changing consumer trends. Generating more demand for products, especially through social media, is now a key priority for the tech team, McCrystal said. But to equip its army of influencers, Unilever needs to create exponentially more 'assets," or visual components. That's where AI comes in, he said. 'We're now deploying thousands of assets a week across our brands, compared to single digits over months," McCrystal said. Those visuals are passed on to influencers to use in their Instagram posts and TikToks. Earlier this year, Unilever started using Nvidia's Omniverse platform to create digital twins of all its products, encapsulating a given product's variants, labels, packaging and language formats within a single file for the purpose of generating product imagery faster and cheaper. The digital twins are fed into Unilever's AI content-generation platform, Gen AI Content Studios, a prompt-based system launched in 2023 that can churn out still images and copy. Using the platform, Unilever can not only produce an exponentially larger number of personalized brand assets to give influencers, but it can quickly repurpose influencer content for its own social posts, as was the case with a collaboration last year between Dove body care and the popular cookie brand Crumbl. Dove back then released a limited-edition collection of soaps, scrubs and deodorants inspired by the trend of infusing bath products with food aromas. Unilever said 52% of the overall purchases came from people who hadn't bought Dove before, and credited the more than 3.5 billion earned social impressions with the sales success. AI was critical to getting those impressions, said Ryu Yokoi, chief media and marketing capability officer, Unilever North America. The company took over 100 discrete pieces of influencer content such as stills and short clips and used generative AI to remix them into different sizes, formats and lengths to tailor it to different audiences on different social-media platforms, he said. Unilever is seeing proven value in working with human influencers, but one day AI-generated influencers might play a role, according to Yokoi. 'AI is going to impact so many different aspects of this," he said. 'I think it depends on the brand and the use."
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
‘Buy and Don't Look Back,' Says Investor About Nvidia Stock
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has made a strong comeback, with its shares surging 68% since hitting a 52-week low in early April. This robust rebound follows a period of uncertainty earlier this year, when Trump's tariff threats and rising trade tensions fueled investor concerns about the future of the AI infrastructure sector. Fears of a global economic slowdown and worries that hyperscalers might pull back on AI spending only deepened the unease. But with renewed investor confidence, Nvidia has quickly regained its momentum. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. This turnaround has caught the attention of market watchers and bulls alike. Among them is an investor known by the pseudonym Star Investments (SI), who believes Nvidia's 'strong vision for AI' means the story is far from over, and that investors should remain interested in what comes next. Central to SI's thesis is the leadership of CEO Jensen Huang, whose knack for identifying and seizing AI opportunities well ahead of competitors has repeatedly set Nvidia apart. For instance, Huang and his team were early to spot the enormous potential of Sovereign AI – a market some now believe could be worth a trillion dollars. 'Although NVIDIA may not have invented the concept of Sovereign AI,' says SI, 'it is a pioneer in this market segment.' That ability to spot emerging opportunities extends well beyond data centers. Nvidia has also established itself as a trailblazer in physical AI and robotics – fields where technology is moving from the virtual world into tangible, real-world applications. Physical AI encompasses everything from autonomous vehicles to humanoid robots, allowing machines to perceive and interact with their environment in new ways. Here, too, Nvidia is pushing the boundaries, with platforms like Omniverse and Cosmos powering next-generation robotics such as the Isaac GR00T. The long-term potential of this market is vast, though difficult to fully quantify. As SI points out, physical AI sits at the intersection of several rapidly evolving sectors, including robotics, AI, and automation. Some forecasts underscore just how enormous this opportunity might be: for example, Fortune Business Insights projects the global autonomous vehicle market will expand from $1.9 trillion in 2023 to a staggering $13.63 trillion by 2030, representing a 32.3% CAGR. 'Although investors often focus most on NVIDIA's AI data center opportunity, they should also remain aware that the company may have just as large an opportunity in robotics and physical AI when calculating its valuation,' SI says. 'NVIDIA's high-octane growth may last longer than many people have factored in.' Moreover, while rivals are scrambling to catch up, Nvidia's dominance in the core AI infrastructure market remains as strong as ever. Analysts estimate that the company still controls between 80% and 92% of the data center GPU market. If, as SI believes, Jensen Huang's vision for AI spreading into every major industry proves correct, the total market Nvidia is poised to address could ultimately reach into the trillions. 'Growth investors should consider purchasing shares,' Star Investments therefore summed up. 'I maintain my Strong Buy rating on NVIDIA.' (To watch Star Investments' track record, click here) Most of the Street's analysts are thinking along the same lines; based on a mix of 35 Buys, 4 Holds and 1 Sell, NVDA stock claims a Strong Buy consensus rating. At $175.97, the average price target factors in a one-year gain of 11%. (See NVDA stock forecast) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights.
CNBC
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNBC
Bank of America says autonomous cars are having their 'ChatGPT' moment. How to play it
The "ChatGPT moment" for autonomous vehicles has finally arrived, according to Bank of America, which sees a trillion-dollar market for the space. The firm detailed a list of stocks to invest in the theme. In a Tuesday report, Bank of America identified more than 200 operational autonomous vehicle projects globally. Fully commercial robotaxis are running in seven cities — including Waymo in Austin , San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Baidu's Apollo Go in Wuhan, China — and 20 more are in progress, according to the firm. "Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are having their ChatGPT moment and are no longer a moonshot," strategist Martyn Briggs said in a note to clients. "The main 'drivers' are breakthroughs in [artificial intelligence] and compute, as well as falling sensor costs, enabling rapid commercial deployment," he said. "On top come an increasingly favourable regulatory backdrop and a US-China 'car race.'" Briggs estimated that cars represent the largest addressable robotaxi market, worth $700 billion by 2040. However, the total market rises to $1.2 trillion by the same year when accounting for trucks, freight, logistics, public transport and agriculture. Stocks behind the brains and bodies of AVs Several companies — including rideshare platforms, original equipment makers, software developers, semiconductor companies and sensor makers — stand to benefit from the boom in autonomous vehicles. Bank of America mentioned nearly 20 beneficiaries, including Caterpillar , Uber , Amazon , Nvidia , Aptiv , Baidu and Mobileye , of the trend as commercial deployments ramp up. Nvidia is a name that's been top-of-mind for investors when it comes to AI. The company is forging a new growth runway in autonomous technology, and could be a huge player in software development for OEMs. Analyst Vivek Arya highlighted Nvidia's three-computer solution for AVs: Nvidia DGX for AI model training, its DRIVE AGX complete autonomous driving platform, and Omniverse and Cosmos platforms for physical AI applications. He rates the chip giant a buy. "Nvidia (NVDA) is a pioneer in the accelerated compute space who stands to benefit from AV adoption," Arya said. "As the automotive industry shifts towards electrification and automation, we expect the need for compute power and AI training models on the car presents an incremental opportunity for Nvidia in AVs." Arya's $180 price target on Nvidia suggests upside of 17% from Tuesday's close. Shares are up about 17% in 2025. NVDA 1Y mountain Nvidia stock performance over the past year. Caterpillar is a little-known play on autonomous tech. The company began with offering truck applications for autonomy, but now provides several solutions for mining automation — such as drills, haulers, and underground equipment, Bank of America said. The firm rates the stock a buy, but its price target suggests shares could slip 1.5% from Tuesday's close. Caterpillar is up 9% in 2025. According to analyst Michael Feniger, the company's "formula for success in autonomy" includes its scalable platform on autonomous fleets, as well as its ability to retrofit equipment and fulfill demand for new trucks. Feniger added that Caterpillar receives revenue from its autonomous business through its hardware applications (radar and sensors) and software fees at implementation. "Autonomous implementation likely means fewer trucks operating at higher utilization driving greater parts and service opportunity," he said. Rideshare company Uber is set to benefit from its partnerships with more AV companies, according to Bank of America. "The value of Uber's capability as an AV network partner, fleet operator, and demand generation service for AV providers is supported by a growing number of AV partners (now with 18 partners across AV industry globally, including Waymo in the US)," analyst Justin Post said. "We think over 50% of Uber's value is from mobility, and AV execution will be a key driver for the stock." He rates Uber as a buy. The firm's price target of $97 calls for more than 5% upside from Tuesday's close. Shares of Uber have rallied 52% year to date.
