SasoEquity
AI & Robotics Investor
Hesai is a supplier to Nvidia's humanoid robot reference platform. It provides LiDAR and actuators to Unitree and Sharpa, the two companies Nvidia chose for Isaac GR00T, including actuators for Sharpa's reference dexterous hand under a cost-plus contract through its new SGI division. The China discount on the stock is getting ridiculous. The proposed SAFE LiDAR Act, which would phase out Chinese LiDAR across the US economy, is a risk, though unlikely to pass. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Chinese lidar makers Hesai and RoboSense are not walking into a China solar-style trap. Their primary risks are Huawei undercutting them to take market share and advances in non-lidar alternatives. Although Hesai trades at a premium to RoboSense, it is Hesai that faces more of an existential threat. x.com x.comÂ
Hesai looks like the best, cleanest and cheapest exposure to driver assistance and robotics, despite being Chinese. LiDAR adoption is accelerating for L3/L4 in new cars, robotaxis are reaching an inflection point, and consumer and industrial robotics are picking up. Customers include Mercedes, Xiaomi, BYD, Li Auto and nearly all robotaxi operators except Waymo, such as Zoox, Aurora, WeRide, Pony and DiDi, and it is a certified LiDAR partner for Nvidia's Hyperion platform. x.comÂ
Ouster and Aeva have each doubled in a year on the story that humanoid robots need LiDAR, but no link in that chain looks able to hold its price once capacity catches up. Omdia puts total humanoid LiDAR demand near 400,000 units by 2030, while Hesai alone is scaling toward 4 million units a year in 2026, and Tesla Optimus and Figure 03 rely on cameras. The two names making real money are Chinese. Ouster's best argument is its Stereolabs hedge if cameras win. x.com x.comÂ
A sharply higher humanoid shipment forecast supports robotics suppliers even as sentiment struggles. JPMorgan now sees 1.8 million units by 2030, about 152% CAGR. Ouster offers broad perception exposure through Rev8, Stereolabs and software; Harmonic Drive makes rotary actuators, Regal Rexnord frameless torque motors and linear actuators, VPG force/torque sensors for joints and grippers, and One Stop Systems rugged edge AI compute for field robots. x.comÂ
Robotics component suppliers get paid on every robot no matter which maker wins, as capital floods into the sector. Robotics VC hit a record of over $16 billion in a quarter, and Goldman sees the humanoid market growing from under $2 billion to $38 billion by 2035, with the inflection around 2027-28. Nvidia supplies the compute and training platforms, Ambarella edge AI chips, Ouster lidar, Vishay Precision force sensors, and memory makers the memory every robot needs. x.com x.comÂ
Robots will inevitably scale across all kinds of applications, and picks-and-shovels suppliers are the way to invest now. Nvidia, Teradyne and Symbotic are the obvious plays. Less-noticed names cover each robot function: Ouster's lidar as the eyes, Vishay Precision Group's force and torque sensors for touch and balance, Ambarella's edge AI chips as the brain, and Regal Rexnord's motors, actuators and bearings as the muscle. Short-term prices may fluctuate with the macro. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Hesai is a wonderful company at a great price and is now the top company in lidar. The position is meant to be held for as long as that thesis stays intact. x.comÂ
Nvidia's open Isaac GR00T reference humanoid, launching in October 2026, could kick off the physical AI megatrend by giving labs ready-made hardware, a big catalyst for robot hardware suppliers. Ouster's LiDAR maps industrial spaces, Intel's RealSense cameras are the eyes of Unitree robots, Harmonic Drive nearly monopolizes precision strain-wave gears, Novanta supplies micro-motors and pressure sensors, Ambarella edge-vision chips, Vicor dense power modules and KVH fiber-optic gyros for balance. … Show more
Nvidia's push into physical AI in Korea should shorten customer verification timelines for Korean humanoid parts suppliers SPG and ROBOTIS. During Jensen Huang's June 5 Seoul visit, Nvidia opened hiring for a Seoul AI Technology Center in foundation models and physical AI; its GPU deals dated from October 2025. Humanoids carry more reducer and actuator content the more joints they have, so the bottleneck shifts to such parts makers. The effect is a faster verification clock, not revenue now. … Show more
Western lidar makers Ouster and Aeva stand to fill the vacuum if Chinese rival Hesai is banned in the West. Hesai faces US national-security scrutiny over its expanded Nvidia partnership, after warnings that its sensors could be disabled or exploited remotely; a Hesai firmware update disabled lidar units on February 29. Upstream laser suppliers to Western lidar, such as Lumentum and Sivers, would also gain revenue. The news may not matter much while markets are crashing. x.com x.comÂ
