Race for Humanoids: Companies that lead the next revolution and how to position themselves before the boom

In this context, the expert recalls that the level 5 autonomous driving – which represents a total automation without the need for human intervention— still It was not achieved in practice, which underlines the pending challenges in the interaction of artificial intelligence with the physical environment.

And while all the attention was taken by language models and generative AI, in parallel, researchers perfect models designed to perception, planning and control in the real world. The result: Robots capable of manipulating tools, adapting to spaces designed for humans and learning tasks through reinforcement learning.

Economic Impact of Mass Adoption of Humanoid Robots

The teacher explains that the economic impact of a massive adoption of humanoid robots in the next decade would be “Transformer and multifaceted”The most immediate and relevant effect would be seen in the Optimization of workforce and productivity. “Humanoids could assume repetitive, dangerous or that require great precision in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, services, and even medical care and care of people,” says Pernice.

And he warns that: “This would not only increase efficiency and reduce operational costs, but also free human workers for roles of Greater added value, creativity and supervision”, In addition, according to Pernice, a new industrial ecosystem would be generated around its manufacture, Software, Maintenance and Application Developmentwhich would end up promoting the creation of new companies and highly qualified jobs. Consequently, there could be a redefinition of certain labor markets, with a growing focus on collaboration human-robot and training in new digital skills.

Fatima Toche, Expert in digital law, clarifies with pernice and maintains in statements to this medium that, the deepest impact of the incorporation of humanoid robots “It will not be limited to the manufacturing industry or logistics“, sectors where its presence is already palpable,” but will progressively extend to traditionally human areas such as services, health, customer care and care of older people. “This change entails three key phenomena, which urges addressing public policy, labor law and technological ethics.

• Structural labor displacement: Automation of repetitive and physical tasks threatens to increase inequality if massive labor reconversion and digital literacy programs are not implemented. “This forces States to rethink their role in the protection of social and labor rights against a market focused on efficiency,” says Toche.

• Exponential increase in productivity: “Humanoids allow continuous and pause productivity, which reduces costs and increases business profits. However, the question arises about who really benefits from this wealth and how the value of human work is protected,” says the expert.

• Concentration of power and global asymmetries: The control of technological infrastructure by few companies can intensify global economic inequalities, redefining the value chain and challenging the principles of social justice, says the expert.

Investment in the field: Tesla, Nvidia, Meta and Huawei lead the race

Morgan Stanley is one of the investment banks that closely follows the development of humanoid robots. In its most recent report, it concludes that both technology companies and industrial manufacturers “more traditional“They accelerated the commercial deployment of these machines, in a context where the Risk capitalstrategic alliances and advances in artificial intelligence redefine “The competitive panorama globally, But also the investment flow“

The document analyzes that humanoid robotics entered a new phase of maturity and global investment, with economic implications that could redefine entire industries. From car manufacturers such as Hyundai and Xpengeven technological giants such as Tesla, Meta, Huawei and NvidiaThey deepened in recent months their commitment to a sector that, until a few years ago, was seen as futuristic and experimental.

The bank comments that the startup Person AIspecialized in humanoid robotics, announced a seed round led by Unity Growth —What also finances Figure AI and Anthropic – together with Tides Ventures. The company also signed an agreement with HD Hyundai To display humanoids in shipyards, with an initial delivery planned in 18 months, “in what represents one of the first cases of large -scale industrial adoption”, Judgment.

In this regard, Toche comments that, Figure AI, which collaborates with Openai and Nvidia, achieved notorious advances with Figure 01“A robot capable of executing autonomous tasks through commands in natural language.” This development opens a new era of interaction between humans and machines, where the interface will no longer be a keyboard or a screen, but the spoken word. The possibility of instructing a robot to prepare coffee is not an anecdote: It is the basis of a functional replacement architecture In everyday environments, “says the expert.

IA.JPEG companies

The 100 best and worst performances accumulated in the year of humanoids and weighted performance equally against relevant indices. It should be noted that 8 of the 10 best performances come from China. Source: Morgan Stanley.

For its part, Goal signed the mit teacher Sangbae Kim – Global in Robotics – to lead his new Robotics Studio. Kim is known to boost the use of electric motors in robots when hydraulic systems still predominated. The decision is aligned with the recent opening of dozens of positions linked to advanced robotics in the company of Mark Zuckerberg, says the bank.

In Asia, Vingroupthe Vietnamese conglomerate behind Vinfast, presented its first humanoid robot “Made-in-Vietnam “while Hyundai Mobis advances in the development of actuators for this type of machines. The parent company, Hyundai Motoralready confirmed plans to acquire tens of thousands of humanoid robots from their subsidiary Boston Dynamicsaccelerating its integration into industrial processes.

The bank visited the Tesla plant, where the robot takes place Optimus“Now capable of performing domestic tasks through natural language. Trained with learning by simulation, the ´humanoid ‘is fed by a unique neuronal network based on third -person human videos, a technique that could exponentially multiply the future training scale,” says the bank.

On Tesla’s humanoid, Toche indicates that although it is still in an experimental phase, “the financial, logistics and media support of the company of Elon Musk It foresees rapid scalability, particularly if its productive verticalization strategy is consolidated. “

NvidiaMeanwhile, he presented the first update of his founding model for humanoids, GR00T N1.5together with the tool GR00T DreamS Blueprintdesigned to generate synthetic movement data. “The new training flow reduces jobs to just 36 hours of simulation, which configures a milestone in the automation of learning in robotics”, Says Morgan Stanley.

Corporate collaborations in this segment

Morgan Stanley’s document advances that “corporate collaborations multiply”, in this segment. Huawei and Ubtech They signed an integral agreement to develop smart factories and domestic robots. Meanwhile, Tencent Cloud and Dobot They promote the development of VLA foundational models and expand applications to manufacturing, education and retail. Boston Dynamics He associated with LG INNOTEK To create a new robotic vision system, and signed a memorandum with DHL Group To deliver more than 1,000 units of your Stretch robot.

For the investment bank it is “more than clear” than the humanoid robotics ecosystem is in full mutation of prototype terrain to an industry in consolidation.

Toche also highlights companies such as Sanctuary ai, From Canada, develop Phoenixa robot capable of replicating all human movements and learning new tasks through artificial intelligence, sIn need for reprogramming. On the other hand, Boston Dynamics (Hyundai) focuses on robots for industrial and military uses, such as Atlaswhich stands out for its mobility, but is not yet designed for domestic or commercial environments.

How to get ahead of the trend

For an investor that seeks to advance to the boom and place its first investment in this segment The key strategy is deep research and intelligent diversificationsays Pernice. It must be clear that investing directly in humanoid robots companies that do not quote on the stock market can be difficult for the retail investor, but there are indirect routes.

Who adopt the strategy of “Pico and shovel“To build exposure throughout the Supply chain of this sector can surf a wave of productivity which promises to transform entire industries before robots reach our daily lives, as explained by the experts consulted in this note.

Pernice analyzes that invest in companies that provide critical components for this industry As AI chips, Lidar sensors, high -precision actuators, new generation batteries, robotic control software, is a way of entering this market. “These companies will benefit from the growth of humanoids, regardless of which particular manufacturerdominate the market, ”he says.

Another option It is to consider the thematic ETFs that include robotics, automation and artificial intelligence companies. “There are some ETFs focused on companies that develop Humanoid robots In the approval process. Others may not be exclusively of humanoids, but many of the underlying companies are pillars in the development of key components or enabling technologies, ”he says.

Another much more advanced option It is that of risk capital (For qualified investors): “Participating in risk capital funds investing in robotics startups and in their initial stages implies greater risk, But also the exponential return potential”, Concludes Pernice.

In light of these developments, The decision to postpone investment until the adoption of humanoids in consumption is massive could cost expensive. What analysts call the “Chatgpt moment“Of the robots: the moment when the price, capacity and usability converge to catapult the demand exponentially. The window of opportunity to take advantage of cyclical values ​​is now open.

Looking ahead, the main unknowns will be the rhythm of real adoption in industrial and services environments, the evolution of commercial policies and the ability of manufacturers to climb their production without incurring bottlenecks.