And they’re not far off.

Today, AI is mostly contained to chatbots, agentic AI workflows, coding, search, image, and video. It can write, research, analyze, summarize, code, plan, and automate tasks faster than any human ever could.

But the next major phase of AI isn’t just going to live behind a screen.

It will move into the physical world. This is where robotics comes in.

For the last few years the entire AI trade has been centered around compute, GPUs, data centers, power, networking, power, energy, memory, and the infrastructure needed to train and run increasingly powerful models. Before AI can act in the real world, it needs the intelligence layer first.

It needs the brain.

Now that brain is getting better at a rapid pace, and it leaves one major question.

What happens when you give that brain arms, legs, sensors, cameras, hands, and the ability to interact with the physical world?

That is the opportunity robotics represents.

Humanoids, warehouse robots, industrial automation, defense drones, autonomous

machines, surgical robots, and physical AI systems are all part of the

same bigger theme. AI is moving from chat bots that answer questions to

systems that can take action.

Just yesterday, Figure Robotics

live-streamed a team of humanoid robots running a full 8+ hour shift at

human performance levels. The demo was fully autonomous running

Helix-02, completing warehouse packaging and sorting tasks a human

normally would at an exceptional rate.

This is going to become one of the most important market themes of the next several years.

The

government is going to pour so much capital into this group in a race

against China that I think it eventually becomes one of the biggest

themes in the history of the market.

The market has spent the last

few years pricing in the intelligence layer. The next trade may be

about pricing in what happens when that intelligence gets a body…

I see a lot of robotics watchlists out there that miss most of the best names in the market.

This primer does not.

What

you’re about to read will be the first edition of what I hope becomes a

larger series on robotics, hence the 1.0 in the title. For a theme this

big and one that is changing so quickly, I think it will be worth

revisiting over and over again.

This is a theme that will likely

evolve in waves. I believe it has a shot to be one of the biggest themes

and opportunities in the history of the market.

AI Beyond The Screen

For the last few years, AI has mostly been something we interact with through a screen.

Chatbots,

coding, search, image generation, video generation, enterprise

software, agentic workflows, research assistants, customer support

automation, and data analysis have all been part of the first major

wave.

This initial phase of AI has been about making digital work

faster, easier, and more automated. It helps us all write, code,

research, analyze, summarize, and make sense of more information faster

than any human could realistically process on their own.

But nobody thinks AI will stay digital forever.

The next logical step is embodied AI.

The

next major phase is going to be about moving AI out of the browser and

into the physical world. That is where robotics comes in. Once

intelligence can be embedded into machines that see, move, sort, lift,

inspect, deliver, build, operate, and interact with the real economy,

the opportunity becomes much larger than digital productivity.

This is why robotics feels like the natural next step after AI infrastructure.

Before

AI can act in the real world, it needs the brain first. Now that brain

is getting better at an insane pace, the next question becomes obvious.

What happens when that intelligence gets connected to cameras, sensors,

hands, arms, legs, batteries, actuators, motors, and the ability to

operate in the physical world?

Warehouses, factories, hospitals,

restaurants, logistics networks, defense systems, homes, the list goes

on. The robotics opportunity is massive, I’m viewing robotics as the

shift from AI that helps humans do digital work to AI that can help

automate physical work.

The first phase of AI was about building intelligence, the next phase may be about giving that intelligence a body.

The Impact

The physical world is full of repetitive, dangerous, boring, expensive, and labor intensive work.

Warehouses,

factories, hospitals, restaurants, farms, construction sites, defense

systems, logistics networks, and homes all have tasks that are difficult

to staff, expensive to perform, dangerous for humans, boring, or just

perfectly suited for automation.

Think about a time you didn’t want to do the dishes, take out the trash, make dinner, etc.

Now apply that same concept to businesses.

Across

the economy there are endless examples of human time being wasted on

work that is repetitive, physically demanding, dangerous, inefficient,

or simply not the best use of labor.

• Sorting packages in a warehouse

• Running supplies through a hospital

• Handling repetitive kitchen work in a restaurant

• Performing exhausting seasonal work on a farm

• Stocking shelves

• Carrying supplies around a construction site

The list goes on.

Robots

will be key because they attack one of the biggest problems in the

physical economy: the mismatch between the amount of work that needs to

be done and the number of people willing or available to do it.

I

think the idea that robots are just going to replace every human labor

worker is the overly simplistic way people are going to frame this

theme. The bigger point is that a lot of physical work is labor

constrained. We could likely be doing much more labor intensive work if

we had the supply for it.

The first major robotics wave probably

happens in structured environments where the return on investment is

easiest to understand. Warehouses, factories, logistics networks,

hospitals, restaurants, farms, and industrial facilities all make sense

because the tasks are repeatable and the environment is somewhat

controlled.

The physical world is the largest market there is.

Most

of the economy still depends on humans moving, building, cleaning,

delivering, inspecting, repairing, and operating. If AI starts

automating even a small percentage of that physical work, the

opportunity is enormous.

Why Now?

Robotics has been hyped before so the obvious question is why this time could be different.

To me the answer is convergence.

We

see that the currently AI models are improving quickly. Not only that

but the physical components and sensors are becoming more capable as

simulation software is making it easier to train robots before real

world deployment. We’re seeing real progress.

Humanoid robot shipments are also exploding over the past few years.

The most exciting pure play humanoid companies are still largely private or buried inside much larger businesses.

Figure,

Apptronik, 1X, Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, and others are

obviously private, which makes is difficult to get exposure. That’s fine

though, in my opinion the opportunity today is about identifying the

companies supplying the intelligence, perception, components, automation

systems, batteries, software, and infrastructure that make robotics

possible.

The humanoids will come. Eventually.

The U.S. vs. China

The U.S and China are in a robotics race.

And China is winning.

China is shipping robots faster and deploying them in real world environments sooner.

According

to CNBC’s China Connection, Chinese humanoid startups took the top six

spots in Omdia’s 2025 global humanoid robot shipment rankings, while

Figure and Tesla were the only U.S. companies in the top ten. Pretty

insane stuff.

In March 2025 companies such as Tesla, and Boston

Dynamics met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to argue for a more

coordinated U.S. robotics policy including a dedicated federal office,

tax incentives, training programs, research funding, and support for

commercial innovation.

The argument they made is simple: if China is treating robotics as a national priority, the U.S. should too.

And China clearly is treating it like a priority.

The

country already has more than 100 humanoid robotics startups, a massive

industrial robot market, a giant EV and battery ecosystem, and a

government that has made intelligent robots part of its broader

industrial strategy.

CNBC also noted that China has more than 1.8

million industrial robots operating, while Chinese domestic suppliers

now account for roughly half of China’s own industrial robotics market.

In

order for the U.S. to catch up to China, America needs to start

prioritizing the robotics arms race. There’s no other choice.

Government Policy

According

to reports, the Trump administration is already looking at robotics as

the next major area of focus after its AI push.

Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly been meeting with robotics

industry CEOs and the administration is considering an executive order

on robotics this year.

The Department of Commerce also said it is

committed to robotics and advanced manufacturing because they are

central to bringing critical production back to the United States.

Washington

is starting to look at robotics the same way it has started looking at

AI, semiconductors, drones, batteries, rare earths, and energy

infrastructure.

Not only that, but earlier this year Melania Trump hosted an event at the White House with robots present.

This is why I think robotics eventually becomes industrial policy.

The

U.S. wants to reshore manufacturing but reshoring without automation is

difficult. Labor is expensive and skilled labor is limited but if the

U.S. wants to rebuild industrial capacity and compete with China, robots

are going to be part of the answer.

There is an obvious tension here though.

If

the government pushes robotics too aggressively, people will argue that

America is bringing factories back only to fill them with machines

instead of workers. More of the “AI is stealing our job” debate.

But

the other side of the argument is that robots can make American

companies more productive and more competitive. New jobs will emerge. If

robotics helps manufacturers produce more in the U.S., then the job mix

may shift toward building, deploying, maintaining, programming,

supervising, and operating robotic systems.

The better question

to ask is whether robotics allows the U.S. to rebuild industries that

otherwise would not be competitive here at all…

Robots Are Coming 1.0 List

Below I’m going to discuss each major group within the robotics ecosystem and the public names I’m watching inside each basket.

This

is going to be a fast evolving theme and there will be multiple

iterations of these robotics primers going forward. I strongly believe

this is not just a one article opportunity.

Robotics is going to evolve in waves and the names that matter today may not be the only names that matter months from now.

I

want to preface this by saying I’m ONLY including the highest quality

robotics names. I consistently see lists that either omit high quality

names, or include the low quality meme names. I will not be including

meme stocks, or the lowest quality names.

These are the highest quality, U.S. traded robotics stocks in the market.

The Robotic Brain: Edge AI, Embedded Compute, and Real Time Intelligence

Robots can’t rely entirely on the cloud for all of their decisions.

It

needs to process information locally and make decisions without waiting

for every instruction to be sent back and forth from a remote data

center.

That is where the edge AI and embedded compute bucket becomes important.

Below I’m going to discuss the most key names in this group.

AMBA:

Ambarella

is a computer vision and edge AI semiconductor company. One of the only

semis that hasn’t ran yet, I highlighted it in my 2026 outlook and it’s

on my 2026 list. Their chips are used to process video and visual data

efficiently which makes it relevant for machines that need to see and

react to the physical world. In robotics, that visual intelligence layer

matters because a robot needs to identify objects, track movement,

avoid obstacles, and make decisions in real time.

AMBQ:

The

company focuses on ultra low power semiconductor solutions. Not every

robotics application will have a massive battery so power efficient

processing could become increasingly important. Their products are

designed for power constrained environments including robotics and

industrial automation.

SYNA:

Synaptics

is a fan favorite but it’s very high quality. It sits in the edge AI,

IoT, connectivity, and human machine interface bucket. Robots need

sensing, connectivity, embedded intelligence, and interfaces to interact

with humans or other robots and their environments. It is not a pure

robotics name I know that, but it fits the broader theme.

The Eyes: Sensors, Vision, Cameras, LiDAR, Radar, and Perception

AI gives robots intelligence.

Sensors, cameras, etc. give them awareness. Touch, hearing, and vision are important to robots just as they are to humans.

A robot needs to see the world and operate safely around humans, how else would it do that besides cameras and vision?

OUST:

I

own Ouster. Their sensors help machines understand depth and

surroundings. So many use cases, people think LiDAR is just autonomous

cars but it’s not. Mapping, industrial automation, drones, cars,

robotics, security, and other autonomous systems use LiDAR. Ties to

Nvidia, Anduril, Amazon, and Google.

AEVA:

Aeva

is more autonomous vehicle centric but they still matter in the

robotics space because there’s overlap in vision between vehicles and

robotics. They focus on advanced sensing technology that can help

machines detect objects, distance, velocity, and movement. Nvidia

partnership here to boot.

CGNX:

Cognex

helps machines inspect products, read labels, identify objects, detect

defects, and understand what is happening in industrial or

warehous/factory environments. As factory automation and robotics

adoption accelerates, the demand for products like Cognex offers will

only increase.

NOVT:

Novanta

is one of my favorite names. They operate in the precision technology,

photonics, vision, motion, and advanced industrial and medical space.

Robotics need precision systems, imaging, and motion technologies to

work reliably. This makes it a textbook supply chain name.

VPG:

Arguably

one of the most important names in this part of the robotics stack and

it’s been on fire as of late. Vishay Precision Group fits through

precision sensors, force sensing, weighing, measurement, and control

systems, which are all critical for robots that need to interact with

the physical world.

A robot needs to understand how much force to

use, how much pressure it is applying, how to pick something up, how to

touch something without crushing it, and how to make precise movements

in real time. This is what Vishay ensures.

CTS:

CTS

is a company that designs and manufactures custom engineered solutions

that help machines sense, connect, and move. Robots are filled with

sensors, controls, connectors, and feedback systems that help them move,

react, measure, and operate properly in the real world. CTS is behind a

lot of this.

The Body: Actuators, Motion, Components, and Physical Systems

This is where robotics gets very difficult.

Building

a machine that can walk, balance, lift, grasp, etc. is sci-fi esque

stuff that takes a lot of perfection and engineering.

ROK:

Rockwell

is factory automation, industrial software, control systems, and

manufacturing productivity. It’s not part of the humanoid robot story

but it’s more part of the broader automation story. When factories

become more automated, Rockwell will be part of the reason why.

MOD:

Modine

fits into the physical systems and thermal management side of the

robotics stack. They don’t actually build robots but they design

heating, cooling, ventilation, and heat transfer systems for data

centers, industrial equipment, commercial vehicles, agriculture,

construction, mining, and other demanding end markets. Keeping robots

and other systems cool will be very important.

TER:

This

has been a monster stock for quite some time now, everyone knows it and

has likely looked at it before. Their robotics parts are used by

massive companies including Amazon. They also have exposure to

semiconductor testing and robotics through Universal Robots and MiR.

ALNT:

Under

the radar but I like this one a lot. Allient sits in a very important

part of the robotics stack, motion, controls, and power. They make

precision motion control components and systems such as motors, drives,

motion controllers, encoders, gear motors, control electronics, and

power quality products across industrial, aerospace/defense, medical,

vehicle, and electronics markets. Robots need controllers and motors to

move!

Humanoids

There aren’t many plays on Humanoid robotics in the market today.

As

I mentioned above many of the humanoid robotics players are still

private. They’re also the hardest part of the theme because building a

robot that can walk, balance, see, grab, move safely around humans, and

perform useful work for long periods of time is an insanely difficult

engineering problem.

It’s going to take some time before we see true humanoids, but there are a few plays.

TSLA:

Tesla

speaks for itself but it belongs in this article because Optimus is

probably the most well known humanoid robot project in the public

market. The entire thesis at this point hinges on Optimus becoming a

success, hence the expensive valuation. Their Optimus robot has the most

resource + capital and is arguably the most advanced humanoid in

America.

MBLY:

Mobileye

is more associated with autonomous driving but the overlap with

robotics is now there too. The robotics angle became even more direct

after Mobileye announced its plan to acquire Mentee Robotics, an AI

first humanoid robotics company. This officially pushed Mobileye beyond

cars and into physical humanoid robotics.

XPEV:

Xpeng

is increasingly trying to position itself as a broader physical AI

company across smart EVs, robotaxis, flying cars, and humanoid robots.

At their 2025 AI Day, Xpeng unveiled several applications centered

around “Physical AI,” including their the next generation IRON humanoid

robot. They’re often referred to as the “Tesla of China.”

Deployment: Warehouses, Logistics, Restaurants, and Real World Use Cases

The

early winners of the robotics trade are likely not going to be the

companies trying to put humanoids in every home. Instead it could be the

companies deploying robots into warehouses, factories, restaurants,

hospitals, logistics networks, and other structured environments where

the return on investment is easier to measure.

SYM:

Symbotic

builds systems that help warehouses move, sort, store, retrieve, and

ship goods more efficiently. They have a major deal with Walmart and

Softbank still holds a large stake. Sketchy accounting history so it’s

risky to hold or own this but it fits the theme and there’s real revenue

+ connections to legit entities like the two listed above.

ZBRA:

Zebra

fits through logistics, data capture, RFID, asset tracking, mobile

computing, and warehouse visibility. Automated environments need clean

real-time data, and Zebra sits right in that layer. Robots need to know

where inventory is, and warehouses need systems that can track

everything accurately.

AMZN:

Not

much needs to be said. Amazon might be the biggest robotics company on

earth, they’re a monster and a behemoth with over a million robots

active in warehouses. They use robots to move inventory, sort packages,

improve fulfillment speed, reduce manual strain, and make the entire

logistics network more efficient.

Robotic Surgery

Some parts of robotics are already real, commercialized, and proven. Surgical robotics is one of the best examples.

There

are thousands of robotic surgery systems already installed across

hospitals around the world and millions of procedures have already been

performed using robotic assisted technology. Surgical robotics is

already here. Hospitals buy these systems, surgeons train on them,

patients undergo procedures with them, and companies are generating real

revenue from them.

PRCT:

This

company is a surgical robotics name built around Aquablation therapy,

an image-guided, robotic-assisted, heat-free waterjet procedure for

treating BPH, or enlarged prostate. Pretty small TAM when you consider

only men over 50 will use something like this, but the market cap is

small enough there might be room. Its systems use real-time imaging and

robotic precision to help surgeons remove targeted prostate tissue while

preserving surrounding anatomy.

ISRG:

Intuitive

Surgical is probably the most proven robotics company in the market.

It’s been around forever and everyone knows about their devices by now,

they’re everywhere and nearly every hospital uses them. They have real

revenue, products, and a dominant position in surgical robotics. It’s

not a humanoid stock but it is proof that robotics can create enormous

value outside of humanoids, I expect more companies like this to emerge

in the coming years.

The Robots Are Coming 1.0 List:

AMZN: $2.9T

TSLA: $1.4T

ISRG: $150B

TER: $55B

ROK: $51B

SYM: $30B

XPEV: $15B

MOD: $15B

ZBRA: $12B

CGNX: $11B

MBLY: $8.5B

NOVT: $6B

SYNA: $5B

AMBA: $4B

OUST: $2B

CTS: $2B

PRCT: $1.48B

AMBQ: $1.5B

VPG: $1.3B

AEVA: $1.3B

ALNT: $1B

Looking

at this list, my ten favorite names at the moment are and AMBA, ALNT,

AMBQ, AEVA SYNA, OUST, CGNX, NOVT, VPG, CTS. You can find the thesis for

these names above.

You’ll notice I didn’t include

sections for names like RR, SERV, etc. While I think those can

definitely be momentum movers, I wanted to keep this list and the in

depth thoughts contained to the stocks with higher quality fundamentals

and narratives

For this 1.0 list, I wanted to focus more on the

companies that I think have legitimate and established positioning

inside the robotics stack whether that is edge AI, vision, sensors,

machine perception, motion, precision components, or the systems that

help machines interact with the physical world.

As this theme evolves and future editions of “The Robots Are Coming” are released, I’ll continue adding names, removing names, and updating the group + my holdings.

How I Plan To Play This Theme

I’m going to be focused on the names that have not just a good narrative, but good fundamentals.

As

of now I own OUST and TSLA. I want more exposure here, and will look to

add more exposure in the weeks ahead. For my style of swing and

position trading I need a fundamental base to back my thesis.

AMBA, ALNT, AMBQ, AEVA SYNA, CGNX, NOVT, VPG, CTS are

the names I don’t own that stick out amongst all the others. These are

high quality and have good fundamentals, not just a good story.

You

have your mega caps in TSLA and AMZN as well, and I do own Tesla. But

in my view, the names that go from small-mid caps to larger market cap

stocks are where the biggest gains will be found.

I will look to add more exposure to this group in the weeks and months ahead.

In Closing

The robots are coming.

No,

not all at once. We’re not going to wake up tomorrow with humanoids

walking around, I need to emphasize that this theme is going to take

time.

It will likely move in waves but the direction of travel is obvious.

AI

is becoming more capable and the hardware needed to bring it into the

real world is improving quickly. At the same time we have governments

increasingly focused on manufacturing, defense, supply chains,

automation, and technological dominance.

This is all while the

physical economy is still filled with work that is repetitive,

dangerous, labor constrained, expensive, and eventually well suited for

machines. That’s why I think it’s important to start paying attention

now, not later.

The first phase of the AI trade was about building the brain.

The next phase may be about giving that brain a body.

This

does NOT mean every stock on this list is going to work. Some will be

long term winners, some will be trades, and some will probably fade

away. I listed my favorites, I believe those are the most fundamentally

sound names of the group and the ones I’d be inclined to own.

I view robotics as an ecosystem built around moving AI beyond the screen and into the physical world. Not just humanoids.

This

is only version 1.0 of the robotics thesis trade. More to come in the

months ahead as new information, names, narratives, and themes within

the robotics basket emerge.

Have a great evening, and I’ll talk to you soon.