If AI is supposed to replace our jobs and make everyone's lives better what happens when it's put into robots? The CEO of German robotics company Neura Robotics believes that physical AI could replace human labor in less than five years.
Speaking with Tom Mackenzie on Bloomberg, David Reger, the founder of Neura Robotics, called the pace of physical AI development and robotics as "tremendous."
The discussion is mainly about how robotics can be a growth sector for European countries. The focus of the interview is on productive robotics and the opportunity they represent especially in the future.
"I think physical AI and robotics will take every physical tasks," Reger said. "I'm not talking in the next 10 years, I'm talking in the next two to five years."
Reger went on to say that he can train a robot in a task faster than he can train a human.
On a consumer level, robots are mostly relegated to lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners. But on an industrial level we can already see where robotics is growing, especially on assembly lines like those that build cars.
However, a push for vast number of humanoid robots is coming. The Japanese company Noetra (not to be confused with the German Nuera), has a grand plan to deploy more than 10 million humanoid robots across various industries by 2040, and its backed by the Japanese government.
These would be inserted into key areas like disaster response, manufacturing, eldercare and the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Earlier this year, doctors and engineers in San Diego performed the first two surgeries assisted by humanoid robots.
Consumer robots are coming
On a base level, robotics are out of reach for most people. Per RoboZaps, the average cost of a humanoid robot is well into the 10s of thousands of dollars. Most cost as much as a new car and are meant for research, developers or industrial deployments.
Introducing Nori the $1688 humanoidOpening a limited batch that will ship this fallOrder yours below pic.twitter.com/4ua4bezD5fAugust 18, 2026
That said, Nor Robotics out of San Francisco just announced its first sub-$2k Nori A3 robot built in the United States, as reported by Forbes. The Nori A3 is being built and sold with the explicit goal of making advanced home robotics more accessible.
"We wanted to build the best robot possible for under 2K and in the US. With this version Nori we think we've finally done it," CEO Antonio Li said on X.
The Nori A3 can lift up to 122 pounds vertically, has six to eight hours of battery life, and 19 degrees of freedom (or movement). Allegedly, it can pour a drink, load the dishwasher or fold clothes.
For $1,600 would you take a chance on putting a robot in your home?
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