The companies that impact the physical world during the intelligence revolution might actually be bigger than the companies that impact the digital world.
The speaker argues that just as Amazon and Apple became the giants of the internet era, the biggest winners in the AI revolution will be companies that transform physical industries like manufacturing, mining, and logistics. ✦ AI generated
Speaker 1 · a16z Podcast · 2026-07-21 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 3:16
I think when we look back 25 years in this intelligence revolution, the companies that impact the physical world, you know, might actually be bigger than the companies that impact the digital world.
verbatim transcript · starts at 3:16
2:58super excited about it and you have trillion dollar companies emerging. I'm a pretty strong believer that I think when we look back 25 years, if you look back at the internet now, you know, people actually, if you look at the original internet companies that are doing, you know, serving or they're they're doing some analytics and those are interesting, but really when you look back 25 years from now, the big
3:16monolithic companies are Amazon that delivers you stuff, you know, uh Apple, these are the true kind of companies that come of age. And I think when we look back 25 years in this intelligence revolution, the companies that impact the physical world, you know, might actually be bigger than the companies that impact the digital world. >> I would love for you to talk about the following, which is when you first
3:34started the company, you know, the knock on the company, I think, was oh well, it's it's like, you know, car it's making making cars autonomous, right? Self-driving cars. But it's kind of like, okay, there's like whatever, >> you know, there's there Tesla and way more building their own self-driving cars, and then and then there's like six or eight other car companies that matter, and then the company just could
3:48never get that big because there just aren't that many customers. >> Yeah. >> So, What's the like how should people think about like how many things are there that are things that move where the idea of physical AI physical intelligence are going to matter? >> Yeah, I mean even today even if you put that you know uh let's say uh uh view on us the automotive is like 30% of our
4:07business. So 70% already is non-automotive and I think if you fast forward another 10 20 years uh even the manufacturers themselves as a customer base will be a small amount. I think our that mission just keep thinking a uh you know a billion machines becoming intelligent and you think about all the types of machines that exist. Automotive is just an easy one. I think it sticks in people's heads because we all drive
4:29cars and it's a big market. Um but I think it's it'll be a minority of of the business. I mean it is a minority business. I think it'll be increasingly a minority of the business but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be small, right? >> Automotive is still huge just as a part of the globe's GDP. Automotive is something like 3% of all GDP. Um I think the way we always think about it like as
4:48you try to get to your mission initially the manufacturers were the distribution to that intelligence to consumers but then you start working in defense and you start working in construction and mining and agriculture and suddenly the manufacturers are important but maybe the mining operator is actually really important or the department of war is really important and suddenly they become customers and all of those are customers of ours as well.
5:10>> Yeah. I think if you split AI into digital AI and physical AI, right? Digital AI of course is building software and optimizing ads and creating videos, that sort of thing. Uh that's all interesting and good, but really where you talk about the global economy, that's physical AI. And then we're talking about manufacturing and uh and mining and logistics and transportation, all of these things that >> supply chains.
- ·AI's largest impact may be on the physical world
- ·Manufacturing, mining, and logistics are key targets
- ·Analogous to Amazon & Apple dominating the internet era
- ·25-year lookback will show physical-sector AI winners larger
- ·Contrast with digital-only companies from the internet boom