There's a Robot Population?

There’s a robot population? It’s tough for me to think about a robot population. Oh great, we have weird AI and now I have to deal with robots too? I like AI, but it’s pretty weird. Now embodied weirdness too?

I was listening to a podcast yesterday, okay, sure, it was a sci-fi podcast talking about a particular television show from 20+ years ago, but halfway through, the group on the call suddenly spent 10 or 15 minutes talking about AI and Claude, Anthropic’s AI tool. It came kind of out of nowhere. It made a bit of sense, but still, it seemed out of place. I was interested in analysis on the TV show, not Claude. AI is just inescapable. Even in podcast land.

Then today, I was listening to a finance podcast (a non-tech finance podcast, mind you) and they spent a considerable amount of time on robots. Sci-fi robots. Talking about the Fallout video game and now TV show and Ripley in Aliens where people “step into exoskeletons.” Like this is real life. Robots, AI...and finance people saying “own the robots” because there’s a $2 to $5 trillion market about to come into existence.

I agree with “Downtown” Josh Brown from the Compound1 - I think the idea of humanoid robots in your house is pretty ridiculous. I mean, maybe…but I sure wouldn’t want one. Maybe a smart robot dog or something. It just seems like pure comedy to be sitting on your couch and have a humanoid robot walking around adjusting picture frames, falling down stairs, throwing pancakes on the roof, etc. Maybe if it had some personality, à la C-3PO, but some dumb, boring robot? Amazing technology, sure, but just as absurd. So, individual homes, no, but yes for industrial. Yes for the military. Possibly yes for healthcare. Undeniably a massive market.

Anyway, we should all invest in robot and robot-related stocks? The creation of a $5 trillion market from nothing is pretty cool, at least from a purely economic perspective.

Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi described this not as a temporary anomaly but as “a structural, fundamental issue.” U.S. Bank’s economics team concluded in their 2026 report that income concentration now exceeds its pre-pandemic peak and sits at levels not seen in 60 years. These figures predate the meaningful deployment of humanoid robots. They reflect decades of technology-driven productivity gains that have flowed disproportionately to capital owners rather than to labor. - https://ca.investing.com/analysis/the-robot-economy-who-wins-who-gets-left-behind-200624178

A K-shaped economy describes an economic recovery where different groups or industries experience vastly different outcomes – some thrive and grow, while others struggle or decline. This term was intended to highlight the widening economic inequality during periods of recovery or downturn. It fits the saying, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” - https://www.usbank.com/corporate-and-commercial-banking/insights/economy/macro/k-shaped-economy.html

When stock pickers and financial analysts say “own the robots,” they mean own stocks of the companies that make the robots.

However, when I think about “own the robots,” it’s: where are those profits going? And this is where we get into the K-shaped economy and wealth distribution, which has been getting steadily worse. The money is moving up, the middle class is getting smaller, and income concentration is at its worst in 60 years2.