YT Boon, fund manager and head of thematic at investment manager Neuberger Berman, says robots could eventually become a form of 'physical AI'. 'Robotics is rapidly emerging as a transformative application of artificial intelligence in the physical world, enabling automation with intelligence,' he says. 'This new wave of innovation is not just about mechanisation, but about machines that can perceive, reason, and adapt to complex environments.' This means they could be well-suited to work on factory production lines, parcel delivery warehouses and perhaps even in shops on the high street. 'With advances in sensors, computer vision, and deep learning, physical AI is increasingly able to execute intricate tasks previously reserved for skilled human labour, paving the way for smarter factories, logistics hubs, and even service industries to be disrupted,' Boon says. 'By automating labour-intensive processes and reducing dependency on human labour, robotics can lower unit costs, suppress wage inflation in repetitive roles, and increase economic capacity, though this may also result in greater demand for robotics enabled skills and technologies.' Money maker: Tesla boss Elon Musk recently said he expects that Tesla's Optimus will eventually be responsible for as much as 80 per cent of the company's revenue Tesla boss Elon Musk recently said he expects that Tesla's Optimus will eventually be responsible for as much as 80 per cent of the company's revenue. He claims Tesla will build between 500,000 and one million robots by the end of 2027. Cook said: 'While that's a long-term vision, humanoid robots are already moving from lab demos to pilot programs. Early use will focus on simple, repetitive tasks in semi-structured environments like machine tending and material handling. 'Broader deployment will take years, but if Tesla shows real productivity gains and adoption, markets could start pricing in Optimus's value within the next few years.' Who to invest in if you want to back robotics Aside from Tesla, other Silicon Valley giants are also throwing their weight behind robotics. Nvidia recently launched a new chip, Jetson AGX Thor, which can be installed into robots as a 'robot brain'. Boon said Nvidia is 'at the forefront of physical AI, providing the computational backbone for intelligent robots globally'. Google's Deepmind has been flirting with robotics too, rolling out new vision-language models in September that it says will enable develops to build robots that can solve complex multi-step tasks. I'm a fund manager: Why this stock could be the next Nvidia - and where I invest my children's Junior Isas...