Robots? What’s the real value?

Blain’s Morning Porridge, 2nd September 2026

“No injury to humans. Obedience to humans. Self-preservation.”

Narratives are what drive stock markets. Robots are seen as a massive multi-trillion-dollar Total Addressable Market – with strategic and social implications that will utterly change economies. Musk expects to sell millions every year. The reality is likely to be very different – robotics and society will evolve and probably end up unlike anything we envisage today. 

Key Takeaways:

• Robotics may become the most visible part of the AI revolution.
• It is likely to become a huge industrial sector – but it’s unlikely to develop as current expectations predict.
• Industrial Robotics will evolve away from the bi-pedal format – designed for function and maybe modular. Scale industrial robotics will become a strategic resource.
• The market for humanoid bi-pedal robots may become a domestic niche.
• Competition is hotting up – Elon Musk expects to sell millions of Optimus ‘bots, but China is already producing.
• China’s success in capturing swathes of global auto demand highlights the cost vs utility challenge for Western Robotic manufacturers.

The market’s attention is fixed on the disconcerting moves in the bond markets. Bond yields are rising – No Sh*t Sherlock. It doesn’t mean the end of the world as we know it. It means a market responding to the multiple new realities of inflation, trade disruptions, hefty debt loads, frothy valuations, changing geopolitical money flows, and the rest.