Barclays’ shiftless robot report
Financial Times • • general
Key Points:
- Barclays' Special Report "AI gets physical" highlights the emerging market for humanoid robots, which could grow from $2–3 billion today to as much as $200 billion by 2035, driven by factors like aging populations and labor shortages.
- The report emphasizes humanoid robots' potential productivity advantage due to near-continuous operation, suggesting they could deliver 25% more output at half human efficiency and up to 150% more at parity, based on theoretical battery cycle specs.
- However, the analysis may overlook existing labor practices such as shift work, which already extends human productivity around the clock by rotating workers, potentially limiting the incremental benefit of 24/7 robot operation.
- The report's optimistic projections rely on AI reaching
