Is 2026 the Year Robots Go Mainstream?

Just two weeks ago, I wrote that the United States had finally launched its own Manhattan Project for AI.

To me, the Genesis Mission marks a clear turning point for the country. It’s proof that the federal government is ready to treat artificial intelligence as critical infrastructure, just like we’ve done with our highways, our national grid and our space program.

Now it looks like the same thing could happen with robotics.

Last week, Politico reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been meeting with robotics CEOs behind closed doors.

Sources described him as “all in” on accelerating the sector. The article also hinted at something even bigger.

The Trump administration is considering a formal executive order on robotics in 2026.

And I’m all for it. Here’s why…

Trump’s Next Big Tech Push?

Artificial intelligence is the most powerful new tool the world has seen in decades.

But I don’t believe we’ll be able to reshape the economy with AI alone. At some point, intelligence has to reach into the physical world. It has to be able to build, move, lift, assemble and do all the things humans can do… and more.

Robots are the body for AI’s brains. Which is exactly why a national plan for robotics makes sense right now.

And I believe the timing of this “leak” isn’t an accident.

As we’ve talked about many times before, robotics adoption is rising fast. In 2023, companies around the globe installed roughly 541,000 industrial robots, and by 2024 the total number of robots in use worldwide had grown past 4.6 million.

That progress has pushed global robot density — measured as robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers — to an all-time high of 162. Meaning, the world averages about 162 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers.

In the United States, that number is a little higher at around 197 robots per 10,000 workers. Which might sound good at first, but the gap between the U.S. and the world’s most automated economies is huge.

Leading nations such as South Korea now deploy more than 1,000 robots per 10,000 workers.

In other words, even as the robotics tide rises everywhere, the gap between the U.S. and top adopters is growing.

If the White House wants to close that gap, an executive order could turn robotics into a national priority overnight.

Of course, this wouldn’t happen in a vacuum. Tesla has said its Optimus robot could one day become more valuable than every other Tesla product combined.

Image: Tesla

While Figure AI — which launched its Figure 03 robot in October — has raised more than $1.75 billion from investors including Microsoft, the OpenAI Startup Fund, Nvidia and Jeff Bezos.

Image: Figure AI

Agility Robotics has opened America’s first factory for humanoids, designed to produce more than 10,000 robots a year. And Amazon has already deployed over 750,000 robots in its logistics network.

So we clearly have the capacity as a country to move quickly on robotics. What we need now is scale.

And that’s where policy comes in.

A robotics executive order could follow the same pattern we saw with AI. It could direct federal agencies to adopt automation in logistics, energy, defense and transportation. It could lay out national safety and performance standards for humanoids and mobile robots. And it could offer incentives for companies that build their robots on U.S. soil instead of outsourcing production to Asia.

It could even reshape how robots learn.

One of the biggest breakthroughs of the past two years has been combining physical robots with large AI models. These systems can train in simulation and then transfer those skills into the real world.

With enough compute, they can learn tasks far faster than traditional preprogrammed machines.

A national strategy for physical AI could speed that up and push the market into its next stage. And we’re already starting to see hints of what that might look like.

The Department of Transportation is forming a robotics working group. Several defense projects now include budgets for autonomous systems that can help with inspections, ordinance removal and disaster response. And early drafts of the administration’s industrial plans show a clear interest in reshoring advanced manufacturing.

This tells me that Washington is getting ready for a world where robots are everywhere within the next two to three years.

Here’s My Take

Robotics is set up for the same kind of acceleration we’re already experiencing with AI. The technology is maturing. The economics are lining up. And the United States has every reason to build this capacity at home.

That’s why I was thrilled to learn that the Trump administration is weighing a full robotics strategy. Because the economic case for automation has never been stronger.

Of course, a national plan wouldn’t solve every challenge we face, but it would send a powerful signal that we intend to lead this next industrial age.

If Washington follows through, robotics could become the bridge between America’s new AI engines and an even stronger industrial base.

Regards,

Ian KingChief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing

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