Robotics Trends To Watch In 2026

2025 has been a breakout year in robotics and we expect that growth to be even stronger in 2026! 

China leads a massive robotic surge with growth expected to reach new levels in 2026. More than 82% of the 300+ global robotics investment deals in the first half of 2025 occurred in China, with total financing topping at least 20B yuan (~$2.7 B). State-backed funds have earmarked some 70B yuan (about $9.7B) for humanoids and robot initiatives, while pushing robotics into public spaces. Companies like Unitree (eyeing a $7B IPO), Agibot, and EngineAI closed massive rounds, with Unitree slashing prices to $5,900 for its R1 humanoid. Even Elon Musk has warned that in humanoids “positions two through ten could all be Chinese companies.” China now produces 70–80% of global planetary roller screws — the critical actuator component that Tesla, Figure, and 1X all depend on.

Humanoid bots go mainstream - will you see one in your house in 2026?

• Big industrial customers began running serious pilots, testing humanoids on warehouse lines, with 1X’s Neo moving into homes (but with a major caveat).
• Tesla, Figure, Agility, Apptronik, and 1X shifted focus from viral clips to reliability, safety, and per-hour economics in real customer environments. Tesla is set to begin mass production of their Tesla Optimus by the end of next year
• Tooling, components, and software platforms around humanoids matured, from actuators and battery packs to “generalist” control and vision models.
• China turned humanoids into industrial policy, dangling pilots to push domestic players toward large-scale deployment by the end of the decade.
• Analysts are estimating the market will be worth more than $5 trillion by 2050

Robotaxis hit real streets with mixed results! 2026 we expect fewer Uber and Lyft drivers and more driverless cars.

• Waymo began weaving freeway driving into routes across Phoenix, San Francisco, and LA, stretching its service to San Jose with 24/7 airport pickup.
• Amazon’s robotaxi subsidiary Zoox launched its custom vehicles in Las Vegas — no steering wheel, no pedals, just two rows of seats for 4 passengers.
• Tesla just started testing empty robotaxis on Austin streets this past weekend, with no safety monitor in the passenger seat.
• China’s Baidu and Uber announced plans to deploy thousands of Apollo Go vehicles on Uber’s platform, while Pony AI rolled out 1K robotaxis in Shenzhen.
• Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said robotaxis are a "trillion-dollar-plus" industry and expects to see the company to have cars 10-plus markets by next year.

The rise of the warehouse bot saw Warehouse bots becoming the main characters of robotics in 2025. 

• Amazon blew past 1M deployed robots marking the shift from simple mobile robots to integrated AI-powered workcells.
• Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) now account for 45% of warehouse deployments, with e-commerce driving half of new installations through 2030.
• Beijing went all in, openly targeting hundreds of thousands of deployed units by 2030 while running 1.8M industrial robots on factory floors.
• Agility’s Digit moved 100K totes at a GXO facility while humanoids from Apptronik and others tackled “last-meter” tasks that wheeled bots can't handle.

Industry Diversification: Robotics adoption is expanding beyond traditional automotive and electronics manufacturing into sectors facing labor shortages or high-risk conditions.

• Construction: Robots are increasingly used for surveying, inspection, demolition, and precise tasks like drilling and bricklaying, reducing human exposure to hazardous conditions.
• Healthcare and Pharma: Automation is used for logistics, dispensing medications, performing minimally invasive surgeries, and assisting with patient rehabilitation through soft exoskeletons.
• Retail and Hospitality: Robots are appearing as shelf-scanning inventory managers, automated baristas, and hotel assistants.

In 2026, the emphasis is going to be on human-robot collaboration and the integration of robots into daily life as intelligent partners rather than mere replacements. Growth and expansion of AI and the integration it is already making into everyday life will be key. So to will regulations and governmental guidelines and oversight. We've already seen some drawback on autonomous cars with state legislators weighing in on regulations for autonomous vehicles. We fully expect more regulations and safety nets related to bots taking over the workforce and/or entering our daily lives.