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NVIDIA's Blue

Short answer: Blue is a small, Star Wars-inspired robot from Disney Research, part of the company's BDX droid family. It joined NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang onstage during his GTC 2025 keynote in San Jose on March 18, 2025.

TechRadar quotes Huang as saying, "Blue has two Nvidia computers inside." Disney Research's Moritz Bächer told TechRadar that each BDX droid has four actuators in the head and neck, five in each leg, and two NVIDIA Jetson computers. The droids learn to move in character through reinforcement learning in simulation. At the same keynote, NVIDIA announced Newton, an open-source physics engine for robotics built on its Warp GPU framework and OpenUSD. NVIDIA's announcement describes Newton as co-developed with Google DeepMind and Disney Research, and says Disney Research would be the first to use it for its robotic characters. Newton was not yet available at GTC. On September 29, 2025, the three organizations contributed it to the Linux Foundation, and it was released in beta under open governance. Disney had already shown BDX droids at GTC 2024. The Reel's footage shows the droid walking on a dark stage in front of a desert backdrop.

VideoWrite-up4 sources

In collections:Machines of Tomorrow

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What should you know about NVIDIA's Blue?

Quick facts. Each one stands alone and has a stable ID you can cite.

  1. Disney Research's Blue appeared at NVIDIA's GTC 2025 keynote.

    DD-614-F01 · Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage)

  2. Newton physics engine was released in beta under the Linux Foundation in September 2025.

    DD-614-F02 · Write-up · Exhibit E (Open release)

Video transcript: NVIDIA's Blue: A Droid Raised in Simulation

DID YOU KNOW? At GTC 2025, Nvidia working with Disney Research and Google Deepmind, unveiled Blue, a pint-sized Star Wars-inspired entertainment robot driven by two onboard Nvidia computers. It uses Newton, Nvidia's new open-source physics engine built on their Warp GPU framework, to learn lifelike motions via reinforcement learning in simulation before operating in the real world. NOW YOU KNOW!

Burned-in captions, read frame by frame (see transcript.md) · 22.5s Reel ·

Video coming soonNVIDIA's Blue · Instagram Reel
NVIDIA's Blue: A Droid Raised in Simulation Instagram Reel · · 22.5s

The write-up

A droid raised in simulation. Disney Research's Blue walked onstage at NVIDIA's GTC 2025 keynote.

  1. Exhibit A

    Onstage

    Disney Research's Blue joined Jensen Huang at the GTC 2025 keynote on March 18, 2025.

  2. Exhibit B

    Inside the droid

    BDX droids have two NVIDIA Jetson computers and 14 actuators.

  3. Exhibit C

    Trained virtually

    The droids learn their in-character moves through reinforcement learning in simulation.

  4. Exhibit D

    Newton

    Newton is an open-source physics engine built on NVIDIA Warp, co-developed with Google DeepMind and Disney Research.

  5. Exhibit E

    Open release

    Newton was announced at GTC 2025 and released in beta under the Linux Foundation on September 29, 2025.

Questions people ask about NVIDIA's Blue

At which event did Blue appear onstage with Jensen Huang?

On March 18, 2025.

Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

Which organization built Blue?

Part of its BDX droid family.

Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

What GPU framework is Newton built on?

Together with OpenUSD.

Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Inside the droid) · TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025); TechRadar: Disney's associate lab director of Robotics on the Star Wars BDX Droids

Which foundation has governed Newton since September 2025?

It was released there in beta.

Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Inside the droid) · TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025); TechRadar: Disney's associate lab director of Robotics on the Star Wars BDX Droids

How do BDX droids learn their moves?

Then they transfer to the real robot.

Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

Test Your Knowledge

All quizzes →

5 questions, all from this case file. Answers are revealed instantly.

  1. At which event did Blue appear onstage with Jensen Huang?

    1. GTC 2025
    2. CES 2020
    3. WWDC 2023
    4. E3 2019
    Show the answer

    Answer: A. GTC 2025 On March 18, 2025. Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

  2. Which organization built Blue?

    1. Disney Research
    2. Boston Dynamics
    3. Tesla
    4. Sony
    Show the answer

    Answer: A. Disney Research Part of its BDX droid family. Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

  3. What GPU framework is Newton built on?

    1. NVIDIA Warp
    2. DirectX
    3. Unreal Engine
    4. TensorFlow
    Show the answer

    Answer: A. NVIDIA Warp Together with OpenUSD. Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Inside the droid) · TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025); TechRadar: Disney's associate lab director of Robotics on the Star Wars BDX Droids

  4. Which foundation has governed Newton since September 2025?

    1. The Linux Foundation
    2. The Apache Foundation
    3. The Mozilla Foundation
    4. The Gates Foundation
    Show the answer

    Answer: A. The Linux Foundation It was released there in beta. Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Inside the droid) · TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025); TechRadar: Disney's associate lab director of Robotics on the Star Wars BDX Droids

  5. How do BDX droids learn their moves?

    1. Reinforcement learning in simulation
    2. Remote control only
    3. Copying humans live
    4. Pre-recorded animation only
    Show the answer

    Answer: A. Reinforcement learning in simulation Then they transfer to the real robot. Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Onstage) · NVIDIA Technical Blog: Announcing Newton, an Open-Source Physics Engine for Robotics Simulation (March 18, 2025); TechRadar: Nvidia, Google, and Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robot (March 19, 2025)

Cite this case file

Easterling, Marcus. "NVIDIA's Blue." The Detail Department (DetailEnjoyer), case file DD-614, last updated Jul 13, 2025. https://detailenjoyer.com/case/nvidias-blue/

Permalink: https://detailenjoyer.com/case/nvidias-blue/ · Last updated

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