Like most People, I get pumped for the Olympics.
Subsequent 12 months, I’m hoping my younger daughters could have sufficient of an consideration span to look at the Winter Video games with me and my spouse.
And I’m actually wanting ahead to the 2028 Summer time Video games returning to the U.S. for the primary time in three a long time.
Earlier this month, Beijing hosted an Olympics-like occasion that was the primary of its type.
Competitions at this occasion ranged from soccer to medicine-sorting. Additionally they included observe and subject occasions just like the lengthy soar and working.
However as an alternative of people lining as much as begin the races, there have been humanoid robots.
That’s as a result of this occasion was China’s first-ever World Humanoid Robotic Video games. And it was a sight to behold.
In the course of the preliminary spherical of the 100-meter sprint, the beginning gun fired…
And inside seconds, a number of robots stumbled round as in the event that they’d had an excessive amount of to drink.
when you’ve seen any of the footage, it appeared extra like slapstick comedy than cutting-edge expertise.
However Beijing isn’t joking round. It’s useless severe about investing billions to make robots as central to its financial system as semiconductors and EVs.
And every medal ceremony on the World Humanoid Robotic Video games was a reminder of the size of China’s ambitions…
The Race to a Robotic Future
This 12 months alone, Beijing has poured $20 billion in subsidies into robotics.
It’s additionally planning a 1 trillion yuan fund — about $137 billion — to speed up manufacturing and analysis on this subject.
China doesn’t need to repeat the errors that led to its dependence on international semiconductors. So it has made robotics a nationwide precedence on par with chips and electrical autos.
And although their robots may not be sleek but, China is betting large that they’ll be indispensable.
In the meantime, right here within the U.S., robots aren’t working races… but.
However they are clocking in.
Stroll by means of the halls of St. Anthony’s Hospital in Florida, and also you’ll see two robots named Beaker and Hygeia gliding previous sufferers.
Supply: baycare.org
The work they do is mundane, however it’s vitally essential. They transfer lab samples and pharmacy objects all through the hospital.
Since January, Beaker and Hygeia have eradicated greater than 1,100 miles of strolling for nurses. That’s 1000’s of employees hours redirected from pushing carts to direct affected person care.
And at hospitals throughout the nation, Diligent Robotics’ Moxi robotic helps in comparable methods.
Supply: Diligent Robotics
Over the previous two years, Moxi has accomplished multiple million deliveries and saved employees 600,000 hours of strolling.
In different phrases, these machines unencumber expert staff to do the work that solely people can do.
And healthcare isn’t the one business benefiting from robotics right here within the U.S.
In quick meals kitchens, Miso Robotics’ Flippy is whipping up batches of French fries at Jack within the Field and White Citadel.
Supply: Miso Robotics
In the meantime, Chipotle is rolling out its Autocado robotic to peel and slice avocados.
Supply: Chipotle
Which may look like a easy process, however it’s one of the time-consuming jobs on the prep line.
And, like Flippy, the Autocado reduces labor prices whereas preserving meals flowing throughout peak hours.
Outdoors the kitchen, Serve Robotics is revolutionizing last-mile supply.
In Los Angeles, its autonomous sidewalk bots are already bringing Little Caesars pizzas straight to clients.
Supply: Serve Robotics
The corporate expects greater than 2,000 items on U.S. streets by year-end, with expansions underway in Atlanta, Dallas and Miami.
And on the highways of West Texas, Kodiak Robotics’ driverless semis are hauling sand for Atlas Power Options at this very second.
As of mid‑2025, 4 of those vehicles have already logged greater than 800 masses and 1,600 autonomous hours driving throughout the Permian Basin. They function 24/7 with no driver within the cab, solely pausing every now and then for upkeep or gas.
Atlas plans to develop to 100 vehicles within the coming years.
That is what robotics seems to be like in the true world in the present day. Even when you hardly ever discover them, they’re quietly reshaping the financial system.
And humanoid robots, like those on the World Humanoid Robotic Video games, might quickly be the fastest-growing phase of robotics.
Final 12 months, Goldman Sachs predicted that human-like robots may very well be value a whopping $38 billion by 2035.
Whereas Morgan Stanley Analysis estimates the variety of humanoid robots is more likely to attain practically 1 billion by 2050.
Together with the associated provide chain, in addition to upkeep and restore networks, this might add as much as a $5 trillion market within the subsequent quarter century.
That’s twice the scale of the auto business.
But it may very well be a conservative estimate. In spite of everything, Elon Musk is on report that there will likely be at the very least 10 billion humanoid robots in existence by 2040, every priced between $20,000 and $25,000.
However how can U.S. robotics corporations in the present day compete towards Beijing’s large subsidies?
In spite of everything, the federal authorities isn’t more likely to write a $100 billion verify to assist construct a fleet of robots. Particularly since bettering the nation’s infrastructure is much extra essential to the way forward for the U.S.
That’s the place American ingenuity is available in.
Nvidia has grow to be the toolmaker for the robotics world. Its chips and software program energy all the pieces from warehouse bots to hospital couriers.
As we speak, greater than two million builders use Nvidia’s robotics platform to design, take a look at and prepare robots earlier than they ever hit the manufacturing unit flooring.
And the corporate simply launched Jetson Thor, a brand new form of chip constructed particularly for humanoid robots. It offers robots the flexibility to course of imaginative and prescient, motion and decision-making in actual time.
For U.S. startups that aren’t getting a penny in subsidies, Jetson Thor is like handing them the keys to a supercomputer that matches within the palm of a hand.
There’s additionally the open-source ROS2 framework.
This software program lets robots from completely different corporations share intelligence and coordinate duties.
Think about a warehouse the place if one robotic goes down, others routinely reroute to cowl its workload. That’s the pliability and resiliency that ROS2 presents, and it’s and it’s free for anybody to make use of.
But, neither of those examples will seize headlines like a robotic collapsing on a observe in Beijing.
Right here’s My Take
The footage popping out of Beijing may appear to be comedy. In spite of everything, many humanoid robots are nonetheless clumsy.
However I keep in mind when cellphones had been the scale of bricks, when PCs had been cumbersome and unreliable and when dial-up was thought-about cutting-edge.
Expertise is shifting at gentle velocity nowadays.
And throughout the subsequent decade, humanoid robots may very well be stocking cabinets, cooking meals and driving vehicles so seamlessly that they received’t be information anymore.
That’s why I wrote up a particular pressing report for members of Strategic Fortunes with my #1 backdoor funding into this upcoming megatrend.
In case you’re not a member, click on right here now to seek out out extra.
We even have some unbelievable robotics performs in our Excessive Fortunes mannequin portfolio. As a result of I’m extraordinarily bullish on this sector.
And I’m particularly wanting ahead to the robotic that may fold laundry and empty the dishwasher.
Earlier than we all know it, robots will simply be a part of the financial system, as pure as smartphones are in the present day.
And that seamless adoptions will likely be a very good factor…
As a result of we don’t need China to have the final chuckle within the robotic race.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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