The Physical AI Power List

The people shaping what machines can do.

2026 Q3 quarter-to-date · Provisional

Elon Musk, official portrait
Image: The Royal Society

Rank 1

Elon Musk

Co-founder and CEO · Tesla

96Strategic Power /100

Joint first: unusually integrated humanoid resources, agenda influence and options balance NVIDIA’s broader enabling reach.

All 18 leaders

What changed · September 2026

The shape of the field.

3 moved up · 3 moved down · 7 held · 0 new

Position = rank · Numbers = rank

Agibot A2 ↗

Swipe across to see all months.

Capability landscape · September 2026

The whole field on one plot.

0.400.721.041.351.672%8%14%20%26%Median of this month’s ranked cohort. Not a threshold.MEDIANMedian of this month’s ranked cohort. Not a threshold.MEDIANCAPABILITY (cohort range of 0–5)EVIDENCE (cohort range of 0–100%)Relative mode magnifies differences inside the current market. Absolute scores do not change.RELATIVE · CURRENT COHORTTesla Optimus: capability moved from 0.73 to 0.78 since the previous editionAgibot A2: capability moved from 1.40 to 1.50 since the previous editionFourier GR-2: capability moved from 0.58 to 0.57 since the previous editionFigure 03: capability moved from 1.20 to 1.35 since the previous edition1X NEO: capability moved from 1.28 to 1.33 since the previous editionApptronik Apollo: capability moved from 0.97 to 0.98 since the previous editionKepler Forerunner K3: capability moved from 1.17 to 1.23 since the previous editionKepler Forerunner K2: capability moved from 1.10 to 1.18 since the previous editionXPeng IRON: capability moved from 0.48 to 0.57 since the previous edition1Agibot A21.50▲0.103Figure 031.35▲0.1541X NEO1.33▲0.042UBTech Walker S1.48±0.005Kepler Forerunner K31.23▲0.06

13 ranked

Select a robot

One evidence base · Three ways to use it

See the ranking

Every humanoid robot we track, ordered by what it can actually be shown to do.

Open the ranking Compare two robots →

Check realness

Tell a demo from a deployment. Each score is linked to the public source behind it.

See the record How scores are built →

Find fit

Start from the job you need done, then shortlist the machines that can realistically do it.

Find a robot
The current read · September 2026

A closer look at one robot.

Agibot (Zhiyuan Robotics)

Agibot A2

Capability score
1.50
Proof score
0.20
Proof gap
1.30
12345Locomotion3/5 · 1.20Manipulation3/5 · 1.20Perception2/5 · 0.80Autonomy4/5 · 1.60Learning5/5 · 2.00HRI5/5 · 2.00Deployment5/5 · 1.60Safety4/5 · 1.60Capability score1.50Proof score 0.20
Spider view · 8 axes

One spoke per axis. Dashed graphite is the Proof score; filled magenta is the Capability score. Gaps in either polygon mark axes that are not evidenced — never zeros.

0 of 8 axes not evidenced
Hover a spoke or axis label to preview it here. Click to open the axis lens.

31 of 40 sub-axes carry scored evidence in this edition.

Open the Agibot A2 report

Humanoids

What a humanoid actually does, step by step

  1. Step 01

    Sees and senses

    Cameras, microphones and touch sensors turn the room into one picture the robot can use.

  2. Step 02

    Understands the task

    It works out what it has been asked to do, and which objects in front of it matter.

  3. Step 03

    Plans ahead

    Before moving, it estimates what will happen next — where things fall, slip or get in the way.

  4. Step 04

    Moves and handles

    It chooses the actual movement: which hand, which grip, how much force.

  5. Step 05

    Stays stable

    Hundreds of times a second it adjusts the whole body so the work does not topple it.

  6. Step 06

    Learns from experience

    Between runs, recorded attempts are used to retrain the models so the next attempt is better.

Evidence

From vendor claim to real work

Six steps of proof
Each step is harder to fake than the one before it
NONEFULL01Vendor says02Vendor shows03Customertrial04Confirmed customeruse05Measured atwork06Repeated acrosssites
Step 4 · Confirmed customer use

A real customer or site is named on the public record.

To move up: published output, uptime or task metrics.

No tracked record sits at this step with a public source we can link to yet, so no example is shown.

Deployments tracked
—
Public records
—

No sourced deployment records are available here yet.

Careers

Who is hiring to build this.

Four career paths

  • Intelligence & Autonomy
  • Motion & Hardware
  • Systems, Validation & Deployment
  • Product & Delivery

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