An Optimus bot from Tesla on display during the 2024 World AI Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on July 7, 2024.
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Ark Invest founder and Chief Executive Cathie Wood on Tuesday singled out the potential for artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of humanoid robots.
Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wood said machines that resemble people in size, shape and movement could represent one of the biggest AI opportunities.
“I know a lot of people are worried about all [the] ‘AI hype,'” Wood said. “But as we’re looking to the future, especially with embodied AI, which is all about robotaxis and transforming the world of transportation completely — and then healthcare, which is probably one of the most profound applications of AI, we think that this investment will pay off.”
She added: “I think the chaser is going to be humanoid robots. And I think that is going to be the biggest of all the embodied AI opportunities.”
AI-powered humanoid robots have long captured the public’s imagination and companies have been scrambling to produce machines that can revolutionize sectors from healthcare and personal assistance to retail.
Investors, however, have traditionally been skeptical about the emerging technology, particulalry when it comes to delivering economically justifiable performance in real-world settings.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a big fan of the concept. Indeed, the tech billionaire said last month that Tesla’s Optimus robots would eventually make up around 80% of the electric vehicle maker’s value.
Wood’s ARK Artificial Intelligence & Robotics UCITS ETF’s top holdings are Tesla (9.16%), Palantir (7.02%) and AMD (6.14%).
Productivity gains
“What I do think is, on the enterprise side, it is going to take a while for large corporations to prepare themselves to transform it’s going to take a company like Palantir going into the largest enterprises and really restructuring them in order to really capitalize on the productivity gains that we think are going to be unleashed by AI,” Wood said.
“In the consumer space, the consumer loves all of this, you know, and I think we’re all looking forward to our personal assistants doing our shopping for us,” she continued. “I am really excited about not just shopping, but how much my productivity as an individual is going to increase with AI. It already has in terms of research.”
Wood, who also warned about the short-term potential for an AI-related “reality check,” said elevated Big Tech valuations will make sense over a five-year time horizon.