In an interview with Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale at a forum hosted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, Andreessen urged the United States to lead the development of robot factories, positioning the nation to drive what he called the next Industrial Revolution.

"You've likely seen Elon Musk's Tesla Optimus robot," Andreessen told the audience, referencing the humanoid robot being developed at Musk's electric vehicle company. "These humanoid robots—this general-purpose robotics trend—will take off in the next decade, and it will happen at an enormous scale."

Andreessen, co-founder of the tech investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), envisioned a future with "billions, perhaps tens of billions" of robots performing tasks from industrial production to healthcare. "I think there's a plausible argument, which Elon also believes, that robotics is going to be the biggest industry in the history of the planet," he said. ARK Investment Management LLC's Big Ideas 2025 report supports this vision, forecasting a transformative robotics industry that boosts productivity across sectors. It highlights specialized robots, such as household appliances, slashing time spent on daily tasks. The report projects generalizable robotics could generate over $26 trillion in global revenue, split evenly between $13 trillion in household robotics and $13 trillion in manufacturing robotics.

The global Smart Robots Market is expected to grow from a valuation of USD 33.83 billion in 2024 to $135.83 billion by 2034, reflecting a robust CAGR of 26.5%, according to a new report by The Research Insights. Fueled by the integration of artificial intelligence and advanced sensor technologies, smart robots are expanding into diverse applications. Global demand for enhanced productivity and safety across organizations, coupled with the synergy of cognitive systems and sensor technology, is driving rapid adoption and propelling the market's worldwide growth.

However, competition is intensifying. China's "Made in China 2025" initiative aims to deploy millions of robots, while Japan and South Korea advance their own automation ecosystems.

"We don't need to bring back old manufacturing jobs," Andreessen said, dismissing labor-intensive assembly lines. Instead, he championed what Musk calls "alien dreadnought factories"—highly automated, state-of-the-art facilities producing robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles at unprecedented scale.