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In a recent podcast, Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about two major trends that will drive markets and investments in the years ahead – AI and robotics.

AI has been the driving force behind markets for a few years now and its influence will only grow. But robotics is still in the early innings, although its impact is potentially massive.

But on Wednesday, the future of robotics became a bit brighter after a report by Politico on how the Trump Administration is ramping up its push for robotics.

According to the report in Politico, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is “all-in” on accelerating the development of the robotics industry, The report said Lutnick has been meeting with various CEOs in the industry, citing three people familiar with the discussions.

We are committed to robotics and advanced manufacturing because they are central to bringing critical production back to the United States,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told Politico.

The Politico article also said that next year the Trump Administration is looking to issue an executive order on robotics, presumably to formalize its commitment. Further, Politico reports that the Department of Transportation is planning to launch a working group in the near future, citing one person familiar with the matter.

Robotics stocks open higher

This report seemed to be enough to move robotics stocks higher when the market opened on Wednesday, December 3.

Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) was one of the stocks that moved higher on the news. While Tesla is primarily an EV manufacturer, it is making a heavy push, and making major investments, in developing autonomous vehicles and robotics. Tesla stock rose about 2% on Wednesday to around $436 per share.

Other autonomous vehicle stocks were up as well, including Archer Aviation (Nasdaq: ACHR), which rose 3.4%, and Joby Aviation (Nasdaq: JOBY), which climbed 2%. While these are both autonomous vehicle stocks that specialize in electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, they intersect with robotics.

In addition, several pure-play robotics stocks were on the move on Wednesday, including iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT), which saw its shares rise 44% to $2.80 per share. The company makes consumer robotics, like the Roomba vacuum cleaner.

Serve Robotics (Nasdaq: SERV) stock jumped around 6% to roughly $10.50 per share on the news. Serve Robotics made sidewalk delivery robots that generally deliver food and drinks.

Also, Symbotic (Nasdaq: SYM) stock was up around 2% on Wednesday. Symbotic makes robotics for industrial uses, often used in warehouses.

Further, Richtech Robotics (Nasdaq: RR) saw its stock price climb 6% on the day to around $3.75 per share. Richtech makes service robots and robotics for the commercial sector, mainly serving the healthcare and hospitality industries.

While many of these smaller robotics stocks are more speculative plays at this early stage, they certainly bear watching, particularly as the federal government ramps up investment and focus on the industry.

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