The American robotics industry enters 2026 riding an unprecedented wave of commercial breakthroughs, venture capital, and FDA approvals that position the United States at the forefront of global automation. From surgical suites to factory floors to the lunar surface, recent developments signal that robots are transitioning decisively from research curiosities to essential infrastructure, positioning companies, including UiPath (PATH Quick QuotePATH - Free Report) , Nvidia (NVDA Quick QuoteNVDA - Free Report) , Cadence Design Systems (CDNS Quick QuoteCDNS - Free Report) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG Quick QuoteISRG - Free Report) , for good returns.

The clearest indicator of this shift emerged at CES 2026, where Boston Dynamics announced its humanoid Atlas robot is entering production, marking the company's pivot from research demonstrations to commercial deployment. Parent company Hyundai Motors (HYMLF Quick QuoteHYMLF - Free Report) revealed plans to manufacture 30,000 robots annually by 2028, with Atlas units heading to its Georgia factories for parts sequencing. The company has also formed a partnership with Google DeepMind to integrate Gemini Robotics AI foundation models into Atlas, positioning the platform at the intersection of robotics hardware and AI capabilities. Market players are increasingly optimistic, with the humanoid robotics market projected to reach $15.26 billion by 2023, witnessing a CAGR of 39.2%.

Investment data support the optimism. Global robotics funding surpassed $10.3 billion in 2025 — the highest since 2021 — with U.S. companies capturing the lion's share. Figure AI raised more than $1 billion at a staggering $39 billion valuation, while Physical Intelligence secured $400 million from backers, including Jeff Bezos. The reshaping of the competitive landscape accelerated when SoftBank agreed to acquire ABB's robotics division for $5.375 billion, consolidating the Japanese conglomerate's robotics portfolio. The global surgical robotics market alone is projected to reach $14.45 billion in 2026, while the broader global robotics market is expected to grow to $124.37 billion.

December brought a flurry of FDA activity that should accelerate healthcare robotics adoption. Medtronic's Hugo robotic surgery system received clearance for urologic procedures, followed by CMR Surgical's Versius Plus and expanded indications for Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci SP. Johnson & Johnson's Ottava system continues advancing through clinical trials, with FDA submission expected in early 2026.

Defense and space applications remain powerful growth engines. The Pentagon allocated a historic $13.4 billion for autonomous systems in its fiscal 2026 budget, with the Navy claiming $5.3 billion for unmanned vessels alone. Ghost Robotics unveiled a new manipulator arm for its Vision 60 quadruped, designed for military breaching operations. Rocket Lab landed an $816 million contract — its largest ever — for Space Development Agency satellites. Meanwhile, NASA's Artemis II mission, targeting early 2026 and Astrobotic's Griffin lunar mission, scheduled for mid-2026, will further validate American space robotics capabilities.

The collaborative robotics segment continues impressive 20%+ annual growth, with Universal Robots opening a new Michigan manufacturing hub that will create more than 200 jobs. Nearly half of small and medium manufacturers now integrate cobots, up from 27% just two years ago, attracted by typical ROI within 12 to 36 months.

Challenges persist, including supply chain dependencies on Chinese components and a persistent skills gap, but the trajectory is clear. With AI integration now considered essential for robotics development, policymakers considering robotics-specific executive orders, and humanoid robots moving from lab demonstrations to warehouse deployments — as evidenced by commercial robots moving over 100,000 totes at logistics facilities — the United States appears well-positioned to lead the next phase of the robotics revolution.

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UiPath has emerged as a compelling automation investment through late 2025 and early 2026, pivoting strategically from traditional robotic process automation to comprehensive agentic AI orchestration. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company achieved its first GAAP profitable quarter in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, while revenues climbed 16% year over year to $411 million, demonstrating that its transformation is generating tangible financial returns. December brought S&P MidCap 400 inclusion effective January 2026, expanding institutional ownership substantially. Most significantly, UiPath's Maestro orchestration platform now coordinates AI agents, software robots, and human workers across complex enterprise workflows, positioning the company as the central nervous system for autonomous business operations as organizations transition from generative AI experimentation to production-scale agentic automation delivering measurable ROI. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NVIDIA's recent robotics advancements underscore its expanding dominance in the physical AI space. At CES 2026 on Jan. 5, the company unveiled a comprehensive robotics ecosystem featuring the Isaac GR00T N1.6 reasoning vision-language-action model, which enables humanoid robots to understand ambiguous instructions and execute complex tasks through prior knowledge and common sense. The updated model, downloaded over 1,000,000 times, now allows simultaneous whole-body control for manipulation and locomotion. Complementing this, NVIDIA released the Blackwell-powered Jetson T4000 module, delivering 1,200 teraflops of AI compute and 64 gigabytes of memory at just 40 to 70 watts, providing a cost-effective on-device upgrade path. The Zacks Rank #1 company deepened its robotics simulation capabilities through Isaac Lab-Arena and integration of the Newton Physics Engine, while announcing partnerships with Boston Dynamics, Caterpillar, LG Electronics, and NEURA Robotics for next-generation robot deployments across manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications.

Cadence Design Systems is positioning itself as a critical enabler of the robotics revolution through its pending $3.18 billion acquisition of Hexagon's Design & Engineering business, expected to close in first-quarter 2026. The deal brings industry-standard multibody dynamics simulation tools, particularly Adams software, which enables accurate modeling of real-world motion and interactions essential for Physical AI and robotics applications. This strategic expansion into robotics simulation complements this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s established semiconductor design portfolio, allowing the company to serve the complete robotics development chain from chip design through mechanical system validation.

Intuitive Surgical strengthened its robotics leadership recently with strategic regulatory expansions and advanced AI integration. On Dec. 10, 2025, the FDA cleared the da Vinci Single Port system for three high-volume general surgery procedures — inguinal hernia repair, cholecystectomy, and appendectomy — expanding beyond existing urology, colorectal, thoracic, and transoral indications. This milestone, supported by more than 500 peer-reviewed publications, positions the SP platform to capture broader market share in commonly performed surgeries. The company's da Vinci 5 system continues gaining adoption momentum with enhanced force feedback technology, AI-powered Force Gauge visual indicators, and in-console video replay capabilities that enable real-time surgical decision-making. With an installed base exceeding 10,763 systems globally, this Zacks Rank #2 company’s robotics platform demonstrates sustained innovation velocity that should support recurring revenue growth and market leadership through 2026.