For four decades, the USA has relied on debt-financed consumption and a service-heavy economy to mask an unsustainable model. Today, interest payments eclipse federal R&D outlays, healthcare spending approaches 20% of GDP, and housing costs crowd out discretionary income. Consumer delinquencies and loan balances keep climbing, signaling that households are feeling pain, even as headline GDP rises. Meanwhile, 77 million baby boomers are retiring just as the working-age cohort plateaus, with fewer taxpayers supporting more beneficiaries while most services still run on paperwork and manual labor.
The service economy itself, which comprises a majority of USA GDP, faces vulnerability as artificial intelligence advances. When AI can deliver $500 one-off services for $10 per month, entire professions risk obsolescence. Anthropic’s CEO projects AI-induced unemployment could reach 20% within five years. Traditional approaches like DOGE’s efficiency efforts prove futile, with budget cuts only slowing the bleeding. What’s required is a complete operating-system upgrade that converts advanced technology into everyday utility through technological acceleration.
The M³ Framework: Understanding the Scope
To grasp this transformation’s magnitude, policymakers and investors should adopt the M3 framework: Make, Move, Manipulate (three fundamental activities) × Nano, Micro, Macro (the three scales) × Physical and Digital (the two realms). A few examples follow:
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Manufacturing: Swarms of precision robots with dexterous hands (nano) assembling products (micro) in autonomous factories (macro)
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Logistics: Individual package tracking (nano) enabling drone delivery (micro) within citywide networks (macro)
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Healthcare: Precise haptic feedback (nano) guiding surgical tools (micro) in operating theaters (macro)
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Enterprise: AI scanning millions of documents instantly (nano) to create custom reports and solutions (micro) while transforming how entire industries share knowledge (macro)
This framework reveals that over 70% of global GDP falls within AI and robotics enablement scope. The convergence of bits (digital) controlling atoms (physical) represents not just an economic opportunity but a fundamental national security imperative across all major sectors.
The AI-Robotics-Energy Flywheel
The synergistic relationship between AI, robotics, and energy forms a powerful flywheel that most observers fail to appreciate. While robots and AI consume large amounts of electricity, they simultaneously expand energy supply by automating solar panel factories, optimizing grid flow, and monitoring nuclear facilities. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: cheap, reliable power enables more robotics and AI deployment, which then builds still more energy capacity. As capabilities grow, these elements transform entire industries in ways that make growth resource-rich instead of debt-driven.
Just this past week at the 2025 Reagan National Economic Forum, Netscape and A16Z co-founder Marc Andreessen declared that “Robotics is going to be the biggest industry in the history of the planet… There’s going to be hundreds of billions of robots of all shapes and sizes running around doing all kinds of things.”
This vision becomes feasible precisely because of this flywheel effect. Once we “solve energy” through AI and robotics, we “solve abundance.” Investing in this ecosystem isn’t just betting on the future; it’s creating a hedge while enabling abundant resources for society.
From Tools to Intelligent Partners
We’re transitioning from a world of tools to one of intelligent partners. This shift goes beyond simple automation to fundamentally redefine human productivity. Already, individuals are building personal AI agents using available models, transforming how we approach everything from healthcare to legal services. These “Ph.D.-level” AI assistants represent a new, proactive operating system for daily life.
The physical manifestation of this intelligence through robotics will transform sectors from agriculture to elderly care. As Nvidia’s Jensen Huang notes, physical AI — from AI factories to humanoids and other embodiments —represents the next frontier. With the majority of GDP in the physical realm, we’re seeing not just low-hanging fruit but massive hidden opportunities as AI enters these spaces.
Implementation Imperatives
Orchestrating this fusion presents immense challenges: Ensuring robust systems-level control, cybersecurity, and connectivity will be paramount. Success demands a bipartisan “growth-enabling” mindset from government, using AI and robotics not just for cost-cutting but to actively enable growth and deliver more value for taxpayers. Meeting our future obligations necessitates Manhattan Project-scale investment in enabling infrastructure now, especially as the robotics sector emerges from its cyclical downturn. Ultimately, this transformation empowers people to shift from administrative drudgery to pursuing their dreams, the clearest pathway to renewed productivity and broad-based prosperity.
From Crisis to Catalyst: The Path Forward
Robotics, AI, and abundant energy are no longer niche technology themes. They are the backbone of a new industrial policy and a multidecade investment wave. Through the M³ lens, investors can capture this transformation via targeted indexes. The ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index (ROBO) focuses on the physical realm of robotics and automation. The ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence Index (THNQ) captures the digital AI revolution. Together, these indiexs span the full spectrum of intelligent automation reshaping our economy.
The benefits cascade across all stakeholders:
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Portfolios gain diversified exposure to the dominant growth engine of the next decade
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Consumers receive cheaper, higher-quality healthcare, housing, and personalized services
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Government shifts from crisis budgeting to productivity-led expansion, reducing debt burdens without austerity
The technical capabilities are advancing so rapidly that the question is no longer if, but when, this transformation becomes ubiquitous. The future is arriving whether we’re ready or not. It’s time to build it decisively, with the vision and commitment of a Manhattan Project for robotics and automation.
If you would like to know more about the disruptive technologies shaping our lives, tune in to our next webinar, “The dynamic trends shaping robotics, AI, and healthcare” this Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 11 a.m. ET. Register here.
ROBO is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO). THNQ is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ).
VettaFi is the index provider for ROBO ETF and THNQ ETF, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, ROBO ETF and THNQ ETF are not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi. VettaFi and its affiliates have no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of ROBO ETF and THNQ ETF.
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