WisdomTree launches an ETF that invests in drones, humanoids, and physical AI
18 FEB, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
WisdomTree announced today the launch of the WisdomTree Physical AI, Humanoids and Drones UCITS ETF (WPAI), an exchange-traded fund that seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the WisdomTree Physical AI UCITS Index.
With a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.45%, WPAI began trading today on Börse Xetra, Borsa Italiana, Euronext Paris and SIX (the Swiss Stock Exchange), and is expected to be listed on the London Stock Exchange on February 19, 2026.
ETF Exposure
The proprietary index is designed to track companies leading the development and commercial adoption of physical AI, understood as intelligent machines that operate autonomously in the real world, also known as embedded or integrated intelligence. These AI solutions are capable of perceiving, moving, and acting on their own.
The index identifies companies across five key categories:
- Humanoid Robotics
- Drones and Autonomous Mobility
- Next-Generation Factories (Intelligent Manufacturing)
- Next-Generation Logistics and Supply Chain Robotics
- Emerging Applications in Healthcare, Agriculture, Construction, and Defense
Each category is assigned a Thematic Score that reflects its importance within the physical AI ecosystem, with a current emphasis on humanoid robotics, drones, and autonomous mobility. Companies are also evaluated with a Relevance Score that weighs the weight of their activities in this theme based on their technological capabilities, intellectual property, corporate communications, and, where appropriate, exposure to associated revenues.
According to WisdomTree, AI is moving beyond the digital realm into physical environments thanks to advances in model efficiency, edge computing hardware, and specialized detection and perception systems. These innovations allow for the autonomous operation of machines in factories, warehouses, farms, hospitals, and even in airspace. With the shift of intelligence towards the periphery, physical AI is positioned to drive productivity, transform industrial processes, and redefine work on a global scale.
Positioning in the WisdomTree range
The launch of WPAI complements WisdomTree's Artificial Intelligence ETF, which manages approximately $1.1 billion, and is supported by the firm's award-winning range of thematic ETFs. In 2025, WisdomTree recorded net inflows of $3.9 billion into its thematic offering, accumulating $8.1 billion in client assets in this segment.
With WPAI, the manager expands its thematic investment platform to capture the growing convergence between AI and the physical world, at a time when automation and autonomy are gaining traction in multiple sectors of the economy.
Physical AI is not an isolated industry, but an emerging ecosystem in which intelligence is being incorporated into machines that operate in the real economy. From a research perspective, this poses a challenge for investors, because value is spread across multiple layers, from hardware and sensors to software and autonomous platforms, and the long-term winners are still evolving. Our index creation process is specifically designed for environments like this. We focus on companies with significant and commercially relevant exposure to physical AI today, using revenue-based criteria and transparent rules to ensure that the ETF captures where economic participation is actually taking place. And equally important, the framework is designed to evolve through periodic rebalancing, so that exposure changes as adoption increases and the theme matures.
Pierre Debru, Head of Research, Europe, WisdomTree
This launch offers investors early and structured access to an emerging theme as artificial intelligence goes beyond software and delves into the physical world. Areas such as autonomous systems and intelligent drones are still in the early stages of adoption, but the direction of progress is increasingly clear. Thematic ETFs are especially effective at this point in the life cycle of a theme, when the opportunity is broad, the winners are not yet obvious, and value is being created across an entire ecosystem. Our approach is to precisely define these themes and create rule-based exposures and research that focus on real economic participation and not on speculation.
Alexis Marinof, CEO, Europe, WisdomTree
