The total value of all the robots in the United States, from Roombas to aut0-manufacturing plants to those that fold laundry, and everything in between, is $732 billion , a number that, according to a study released today by researchers at CEBR and Redwood Software , is larger than that of the economy of Switzerland .

Other findings in the study suggest that American investment in robotics has doubled since 2009, and went up 30% between 2011 and 2015. The researchers also concluded that investing in robotics has a higher long-term return than that of transportation, financial services, or real estate. And all-told, robotics investment in the 35 countries that make up the OECD—including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and others—amounted to 10% of GDP growth between 1993 and 2016. In short: Robots are very, very big business.



Photo: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released