Earlier this year at CES in Las Vegas, Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang said the “ChatGPT moment for physical AI is here,” marking an inflection point in the robotics space. In addition to collaborative applications and robotic arms, manufacturers are also increasingly using AI agents and sensor technologies to enhance their operations. Here are some of the AI and robotics trends to watch in 2026. The physical AI hype is real, but the rollout will take some timeA number of manufacturers are already using physical AI, such as robotic arms and cobots, to fill labor shortages and handle repetitive tasks. That number grew to 80% when asked about their plans over the next two years, with 15% using physical AI extensively and 3% fully integrating it.