How FPGAs become the gatekeepers of Physical AI Security

The Robot Report Podcast · 4 Sept 2026 · 1h 08m

What this episode covers

Eric Sivertson, VP of Security Business at Lattice Semiconductor, explains how FPGAs provide deterministic guardrails for physical AI and robotics, addressing the shift from traditional IT risk to real-world safety risks. He details how FPGAs can monitor system buses in real-time to enforce cyber resilience, ensuring that probabilistic AI decisions are checked against deterministic hardware constraints. The discussion highlights the vulnerability of main processors like GPUs and MCUs, which lack internal non-volatile memory, and positions Lattice's Root of Trust (ROT) components as essential for secure boot and runtime recovery. Sivertson argues that integrating these security features early in the design cycle is critical for humanoids and autonomous systems to gain market trust and avoid regulatory backlash.

Mentioned

Companies
Lattice Semiconductor, Nvidia, Hugging Face, Skilled AI, Pterodine Robotics, Jaka Robotics, Universal Robots, John Deere, Tesla
Chips
FPGA

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