Humanoid Robots Will Replace Millions of Workers — Are You Invested? | Derek Yan

In this episode of Lead-Lag Live, Michael Dyer sits down with Derek Yan, senior investment strategist at Craneshares, to explore the transformative potential of humanoid and physical AI robotics, particularly in the context of emerging global warfare and industrial disruption. Yan explains how the rise of affordable drones and robotics—especially from cost-efficient manufacturers like China’s Unitree—has already reshaped modern conflict dynamics, making technology, not troop numbers, the decisive factor. He emphasizes that the future of warfare will be defined by drone-on-drone and robot-on-robot engagements, with affordability and supply chain resilience becoming critical. Beyond defense, Yan highlights the massive growth potential in humanoid robotics, driven by breakthroughs in AI models, actuators, and sensor systems. He discusses how the COID ETF, launched by Craneshares, is designed to capture value across the entire robotics supply chain, focusing on component makers rather than just end-product companies. The fund uses a dynamic, equal-weighted approach with quarterly rebalancing to stay agile in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Yan also notes that while hardware is advancing quickly, the real breakthroughs will come from AI models that enable robots to understand and interact with the physical world—what he calls the 'GPT moment' for physical AI.