Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev predicts that AI agents will soon have capabilities that rival those of human traders.
The power of agent technology (AI that can perform tasks on behalf of users) has been touted as potentially transformative by many in the technology field, with industry giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic racing working to develop such products.
In May, Robinhood announced a tool that allows AI agents to trade and buy stocks on your behalf.
“The idea behind agent trading… is that all the functions that humans can perform will be available to AI agents,” Tenev told CNBC’s Karen Tso on Thursday.
“Before I started Robinhood, I was doing programmatic trading as an institutional investor, and what many people don’t know is that a large portion of the trading is already automated and powered by AI.”
“But such intelligence and complexity were beyond the reach of ordinary people,” he added.
“The end state of agent trading at Robinhood is to give the public access to the same tools, the same calculations, and the same power that institutional investors at high-frequency trading firms have enjoyed for decades.”
Robinhood announced on Wednesday that it will begin offering crypto trading in the UK as it expands its services in Europe.
Robinhood shares rose about 2% in premarket trading Thursday after surging 8% on Wednesday, giving the group a market capitalization of $98 billion at the close. In 2026, stock prices will fall by about 5%.
robinhood stocks
Robinhood missed first-quarter profit estimates in April as market volatility from cryptocurrencies weighed on trading activity. Market conditions have since improved, with easing tensions in the Middle East and strong stock markets supporting retail trading activity.
That same month, Robinhood announced it would partner with the U.S. Treasury and BNY Mellon to serve as broker and trustee for the undisclosed Trump account.
“The goal is to make this the best consumer product the government has ever been involved with,” Tenev said.
Robinhood serves approximately 28 million customers in 38 countries on three continents, the company said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Robinhood cut 10% of its workforce in an effort to operate more efficiently.
“Robinhood business has never been stronger,” Tenev said in a memo to employees shared on social media platform X.
“We can’t operate as a layered organization by default. We have to be a lean, highly focused team,” he added.
