Vision Language Action Models (VLAs) promise to bring the ChatGPT moment to robotics. Thanks to their strong foundational knowledge, they can solve complex problems end-to-end and be easily adapted to completely new tasks and embodiments. But how far can VLAs be pushed? Could they even play video games?

In this talk, Thomas will show how a VLA can be trained to play arbitrary video games using imitation learning. He will draw first blood with an introduction to VLAs. Attendees will learn how they work, what kind of data they are designed to process, and how that makes NVIDIA's GR00T perfect for playing video games. After that, Thomas will briefly cover the concept of imitation learning, what kind of data is needed to train GR00T, and how it can be collected from games. Finally, he will tell the story of leveling up the model from total noob to global elite - one failure at a time - and share all the things learned along the way. To close the game, Thomas will challenge one member of the audience to beat GR00T live on stage in a 1v1.