Robots? What’s the real value?

<p><u><strong>Blain’s Morning Porridge, 2nd September 2026</strong></u></p><p><em>“No injury to humans. Obedience to humans. Self-preservation.”</em></p><p><em><strong>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. </strong></em></p><p><u><strong>Key Takeaways:</strong></u></p><ul><li>Robotics may become the most visible part of the AI revolution.</li><li>It is likely to become a huge industrial sector – but it’s unlikely to develop as current expectations predict.</li><li>Industrial Robotics will evolve away from the bi-pedal format – designed for function and maybe modular. Scale industrial robotics will become a strategic resource.</li><li>The market for humanoid bi-pedal robots may become a domestic niche.</li><li>Competition is hotting up – Elon Musk expects to sell millions of Optimus ‘bots, but China is already producing.</li><li>China’s success in capturing swathes of global auto demand highlights the cost vs utility challenge for Western Robotic manufacturers.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The market’s attention is fixed on the disconcerting moves in the bond markets. Bond yields are rising – <em>No Sh*t Sherlock</em>. 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.</p>