Physical AI Goes Live: Takeaways From 2 Major Conferences
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VettaFi Research4.45K FollowersFollow5ShareSavePlay(9min)CommentsSummaryTwo major industry events in December offered a window into where robotics and AI are headed in 2026, and what that means for portfolios exposed to the space.This year, the big story at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems was Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models. These systems let robots see, understand language, and act in the physical world.The headline announcement from the International Robot Exhibition was SoftBank and Yaskawa Electric signing an MOU to jointly develop “Physical AI” robots for offices, hospitals, and schools.For the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index and the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence Index, several constituents made moves that should accelerate adoption and expand addressable markets.
Paper Boat Creative/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Zeno Mercer Two major industry events in December offered a window into where robotics and AI are headed in 2026, and what that means for portfolios exposed to the space. NeurIPS (the ConferenceThis article was written byVettaFi Research4.45K FollowersFollowVettaFi, a data, analytics, and thought leadership company, is transforming financial services from an industry to a community—one relationship at a time. In addition to providing interactive online tools and research, VettaFi offers asset managers an array of indexing and digital distribution solutions to innovate and scale their businesses. With $14 billion in assets benchmarked to its indexes – and more than 200 customers globally – asset managers look to VettaFi for benchmarks and best-in-class index solutions at competitive prices.Quick InsightsHow do recent AI breakthroughs impact the ROBO and THNQ indices' growth outlook?AI breakthroughs, especially in Vision-Language-Action models and open-source stacks, are accelerating robotics deployment and expanding the total addressable market, supporting sustained growth for ROBO and THNQ constituents.What are the implications of Tesla's Optimus humanoid production ramp for ROBO component suppliers?Tesla's plan to scale Optimus production to one million units by late 2026 could drive significant volume growth for component suppliers in ROBO's Actuation and Sensing subsectors.How did Q3 2025 earnings reinforce the investment thesis for ROBO and THNQ?Q3 2025 results showed strong profitability and growth—ROBO constituents posted 28.5% EPS and 12.9% sales growth, while THNQ delivered even higher figures, with most companies beating estimates.Recommended For You