Jeff Cardenas, CEO of Austin-based Apptronik, discusses the development, business strategy, and global stakes of its Apollo humanoid robots with WSJ Podcasts host Tim.
Apollo currently handles relatively basic work such as picking and placing items in manufacturing and logistics. Cardenas traces his interest in robotics to seeing his grandfathers lose independence as they aged, and hopes robots could eventually help with personal care. He describes a path from industrial sites to public settings such as retail and healthcare, then into homes, with home robots possible by 2035.
Cardenas says Apptronik builds the robot body and actuators, which affect both performance and cost, while sensors let robots respond to changing surroundings. He sees generative AI foundation models as a shift from engineering each task separately toward robots learning new tasks from human demonstrations. Google DeepMind is a partner on AI, while Apptronik focuses on hardware and software.
Cardenas says Apptronik knows how to make a robot below $50,000, though it lacks the high-volume supply chain needed to reduce costs further. The company is moving from Austin-based design and assembly toward working with contract manufacturer Jabil, while keeping open the possibility of more vertical integration later. He says the company will need billions of dollars to reach its goals and is still learning how to scale without taking on factory costs before demand is predictable.
Cardenas names Tesla and Figure as U.S. competitors and points to Unitree and other Chinese firms as fast-moving rivals. He says Chinese companies benefit from manufacturing capacity, shared standards, and a national robotics strategy that supports both research and customer adoption. He argues that robotics could raise productivity and affect national competitiveness and security, and says the U.S. should avoid relying on other governments for essential capabilities.
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