Humanoid Robot Theme Maintains Momentum — Cathie Wood Backs It as One of AI’s Largest Opportunities

October 29 — Edited by Bian Chun. Throughout this year the global market for humanoid robots has expanded rapidly, and related investment themes have attracted strong interest across multiple stock markets. The commercial and strategic prospects for humanoid robots have become a prominent subject of discussion among investors.

Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment, said in an interview at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh that humanoid robots—machines that approximate human proportions, appearance and movement—could constitute one of the most significant opportunities in artificial intelligence. Wood acknowledged widespread concern over exuberance in AI, but emphasized that embodied AI applications, including autonomous taxi services that could reshape transportation and healthcare use cases that might represent AI’s deepest impact, present compelling investment potential and are likely to deliver returns.

She further stated her view that humanoid robots will be the next focal point within embodied AI and that they may represent the largest single opportunity among such applications. For years companies have been exploring humanoid robotics with the aim of driving transformation across sectors ranging from healthcare and personal assistance to retail. Nevertheless, investor skepticism persists, especially regarding whether performance and cost metrics will validate commercial deployments.

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, has been an outspoken proponent of humanoid robots; last month he asserted that Tesla’s Optimus robot could ultimately account for a material portion of the company’s value. Wood oversees the ARK Artificial Intelligence & Robotics UCITS ETF, which concentrates on AI and robotics technologies. The ETF’s largest holdings include Tesla, Palantir and AMD, which together represent material weightings in the fund.

Wood also highlighted AI’s potential to raise productivity for firms and individuals. She noted that larger enterprises will require time and targeted partnership to capture AI-driven gains, citing companies such as Palantir as examples of firms that may facilitate deep organizational transformation necessary to unlock significant productivity improvements. On the consumer side, she expressed enthusiasm about personal-assistant applications that could streamline tasks such as shopping and boost individual productivity, observing that research applications have already demonstrated tangible benefits.

While maintaining a bullish long-term stance, Wood conceded that the AI sector may encounter short-term volatility. Nevertheless, she argued that when evaluated over a five-year horizon, the elevated valuations of major technology companies can be justified by the potential productivity and structural gains AI may realize.