Robots, humanoids, robotaxis, drones
Reducers, bearings, servos, sensors and edge compute decide where AI leaves the data center and does paid physical work.
What stops robots and autonomy from scaling to serial volume?
Physical AI index vs S&P 500
Equal-weight, rebased to 100 · 1Y9 bottlenecks in Physical AI
Sorted by tightness score. Click through for supply chain, dimension scores, names and falsifier.
Precision Reducers
Every robot joint needs a strain-wave or RV reducer. Two Japanese firms dominate; Chinese suppliers are scaling fast.
Drones & Defence Autonomy
Autonomous systems are now central to defence budgets. Motors, batteries and sensors with non-China supply chains are scarce.
Vision, LiDAR & Tactile Sensing
Robots and vehicles see through CMOS sensors and LiDAR. Dexterous manipulation still lacks good, cheap tactile sensing.
Servo Motors & Drives
Motors and drives are the muscle of automation, and rely on rare-earth magnets that come mostly from China.
Autonomy & Robotaxi
Driverless fleets are scaling city by city. Sensors, compute, mapping and permits gate the rollout.
Bearings, Screws & Linear Motion
Humanoids use planetary roller screws and precision bearings in quantity. Roller-screw capacity is small and specialised.
Robot Brains (Edge Compute)
Running vision-language-action models on the robot needs power-efficient edge accelerators — a smaller cousin of the datacentre race.
Factory Automation & Integration
Reshoring and labour scarcity push automation spend. Integrators and controls vendors are the existing, profitable expression of physical AI.
Robot Platforms & Humanoids
Pilots and funding are real; paid serial deployments are early. Public exposure is mostly incumbents and Chinese platforms.
Every stock in Physical AI
Sorted by 1-month performance. Roles, not recommendations.
| Name | Role | Region | Last | 1D | 1M | YTD | Off high | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA Tesla |
Megapack storage, Optimus and autonomy | US | $399.8 | −0.87% | +12.9% | −11.1% | −18.4% | |
| ESLT Elbit Systems |
Defence autonomy and electronics | Israel | $779.7 | −3.43% | +12.2% | +35.5% | −22.8% | |
| NXPI NXP Semiconductors |
Automotive and edge processors | Netherlands | $259.6 | −2.40% | +8.5% | +21.2% | −21.3% | |
| TDY Teledyne Technologies |
Imaging sensors and instruments | US | $658.2 | −2.84% | +7.4% | +28.9% | −4.8% | |
| 6758.T Sony Group |
Image sensor leader | Japan | ¥3,958.0 | +0.56% | +5.3% | −0.8% | −15.1% | |
| 1810.HK Xiaomi |
Consumer, EV and robotics platform | China | HK$26.48 | +3.12% | +5.1% | −32.5% | −43.4% | |
| 300124.SZ Shenzhen Inovance |
Chinese servo and automation leader | China | ¥55.39 | −2.45% | +5.1% | −26.0% | −31.1% | |
| SKF-B.ST SKF |
Bearings and linear motion | Sweden | kr 275.2 | −1.61% | +4.4% | +15.4% | −1.6% | |
| EMR Emerson Electric |
Process automation and controls | US | $164.9 | −3.40% | +4.0% | +25.7% | −3.4% | |
| APTV Aptiv |
Vehicle architecture and autonomy hardware | US | $43.93 | −1.13% | −0.1% | −42.3% | −50.5% | |
| ROK Rockwell Automation |
Industrial automation and controls | US | $436.2 | −3.37% | −1.4% | +13.2% | −11.6% | |
| SIE.DE Siemens |
Factory automation and industrial software | Germany | €265.6 | −2.96% | −2.3% | +13.4% | −8.3% | |
| 6861.T Keyence |
Machine vision and factory sensors | Japan | ¥78,000 | +2.15% | −3.1% | +38.9% | −10.6% | |
| ZBRA Zebra Technologies |
Warehouse robotics and scanning | US | $361.3 | −4.27% | −3.8% | +48.8% | −7.6% | |
| UBER Uber Technologies |
Demand aggregator for robotaxi fleets | US | $65.25 | −0.75% | −3.9% | −20.1% | −34.6% | |
| 6954.T Fanuc |
Industrial robots and CNC | Japan | ¥5,704.0 | −1.57% | −4.0% | −4.2% | −31.5% | |
| XPEV XPeng |
EVs, humanoids and autonomy | China | $9.04 | −1.53% | −4.0% | −55.4% | −67.8% | |
| KTOS Kratos Defense |
Unmanned combat aircraft and engines | US | $41.09 | −5.74% | −4.0% | −45.9% | −68.6% | |
| SHA0.DE Schaeffler |
Bearings and humanoid actuators | Germany | €5.81 | −3.65% | −6.7% | −27.9% | −49.3% | |
| TKR Timken |
Bearings and power transmission | US | $110.9 | −3.42% | −6.8% | +33.0% | −23.5% | |
| 6471.T NSK |
Precision bearings and ball screws | Japan | ¥1,002.5 | −2.72% | −8.7% | +5.9% | −26.6% | |
| RBC RBC Bearings |
Precision bearings | US | $462.2 | −6.76% | −9.1% | +3.1% | −28.8% | |
| QCOM Qualcomm |
Edge AI SoCs for robots and vehicles | US | $164.8 | −11.12% | −9.5% | −2.1% | −33.8% | |
| CGNX Cognex |
Machine vision | US | $56.15 | −4.78% | −9.8% | +56.7% | −22.4% | |
| AVAV AeroVironment |
Small drones and loitering munitions | US | $126.1 | −6.50% | −10.1% | −47.9% | −67.9% | |
| AMBA Ambarella |
Edge vision AI SoCs | US | $63.12 | −2.26% | −10.2% | −10.9% | −33.9% | |
| 6503.T Mitsubishi Electric |
Factory automation and servos | Japan | ¥4,640.0 | −4.15% | −10.8% | +2.4% | −28.9% | |
| ABBN.SW ABB |
Electrification, drives and robotics | Switzerland | CHF 70.68 | −3.34% | −11.2% | +21.1% | −20.2% | |
| NVDA NVIDIA |
Demand aggregator for HBM, packaging, optics and robotics compute | US | $204.6 | −4.22% | −11.4% | +10.0% | −14.5% | |
| 688017.SS Leaderdrive |
Chinese strain-wave reducers | China | ¥254.0 | −9.61% | −11.5% | +32.3% | −47.9% | |
| SYM Symbotic |
Warehouse robotics systems | US | $37.93 | +1.42% | −12.1% | −36.2% | −56.5% | |
| 6268.T Nabtesco |
RV reducers for industrial robots | Japan | ¥4,311.0 | −1.67% | −12.4% | +15.9% | −25.9% | |
| 9880.HK UBTech Robotics |
Humanoid robot maker | China | HK$63.45 | −2.83% | −12.8% | −49.8% | −56.2% | |
| 6481.T THK |
Linear guides and screws | Japan | ¥5,727.0 | −3.49% | −13.7% | +44.8% | −29.2% | |
| 6506.T Yaskawa Electric |
Servos, drives and industrial robots | Japan | ¥3,992.0 | −4.02% | −13.8% | −14.9% | −47.5% | |
| GOOGL Alphabet |
Waymo driverless fleet and TPUs | US | $279.8 | −1.40% | −17.3% | −10.4% | −30.4% | |
| MBLY Mobileye |
ADAS and autonomy stack | Israel | $5.96 | −7.02% | −18.9% | −42.9% | −54.7% | |
| 005380.KS Hyundai Motor |
Owner of Boston Dynamics | Korea | ₩282,000 | −3.59% | −19.4% | −3.5% | −62.2% | |
| 6324.T Harmonic Drive Systems |
Strain-wave gears for robot joints | Japan | ¥5,163.0 | −5.78% | −19.6% | +37.1% | −41.8% | |
| 6594.T Nidec |
Motors and actuators | Japan | ¥1,801.0 | −3.43% | −23.5% | −15.5% | −37.9% | |
| HSAI Hesai Group |
Largest LiDAR maker by volume | China | $12.18 | −6.09% | −23.5% | −45.6% | −57.7% | |
| PONY Pony AI |
Robotaxi operator | China | $4.64 | −5.69% | −25.6% | −68.0% | −76.5% | |
| RCAT Red Cat Holdings |
US-made small drones | US | $4.63 | −8.32% | −26.9% | −41.6% | −73.3% | |
| OUST Ouster |
Digital LiDAR for industrial and robotics | US | $29.74 | −7.47% | −27.2% | +37.4% | −52.4% | |
| ARM Arm Holdings |
CPU IP inside custom accelerators, servers and edge devices | UK | $206.0 | −9.97% | −29.5% | +88.4% | −53.1% |