Anthropic report finds robots can handle 74% of US physical tasks, but cost is the catch

Robots can technically perform about three-quarters of the physical tasks done by US workers. They are cheaper than a human for just 0.3% of them. That gap sits at the center of a new Anthropic report. It reframes the robots-are-coming-for-your-job debate as a question about price, not ability. The report, titled “What work can robots do?”, was published on September 30, 2026. It introduces a robot exposure index, a scoring system that measures what current robotic technology can actually do across nearly 900 US occupations. The analysis draws on occupational data from O*NET to break those jobs into individual tasks. The headline figure: robots can handle 74% of physical job tasks in the US. That share represents approximately 34% of total working hours across the economy. Capable is not the same as affordable First, it covers only physical work. According to the report, physical tasks make up 46% of working time overall. Second, the robotic capability Anthropic measured is largely confined to structured or purpose-built environments. Third, and most important, is cost. Robots are currently competitive with human labor in only 0.3% of job tasks. The report translates that into abou...