In the Era of Unmanned Operations, AI Immigrants Will Change the World

Hello, this is Salt(@saltygelicita).

CES, one of the world's largest technology trade shows, is being held in Las Vegas, USA, from January 7th to January 9th, 2026.CES has opened.

Many exhibits, mainly related to AI, are on display again this year, and although I cannot go to the venue myself, it is fun to get a glimpse of the future just by watching the footage from the coverage.

AI robots that replace human "immigrants" = "AI Immigrants"

Amidst this, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang made the following statement at CES 2026.

Mr. Jensen Huang estimated that the loss of labor due to aging and population decline has reached the “tens of millions” scale, and stated that the introduction of robots would fill the gap in labor shortages.

Mr. Huang compared robots to “immigrants” in the sense of supplementing the physical labor that humans are lacking, a metaphor for robots taking over the manual labor that local citizens in countries with severe labor shortages do not want to do, similar to the work previously done by immigrant workers.

In Japan, I think you can really feel it, but the aging population and population decline are truly remarkable, aren't they?

The issue of raising the working population due to population decline and aging is indeed serious, and it is a common theme in Japan, the West, and China as well.

In Europe, there is a strong movement against immigrants, but the number of Japanese people who dislike accepting immigrants because they believe it will worsen public safety is also increasing rapidly.

Nevertheless, young people tend to avoid simple labor, dangerous work, and 3K jobs (demanding, dirty, and dangerous), making it difficult to secure enough manpower with Japanese people alone.

These robots are now being referred to as physical AI, and he is saying that this physical AI will act as AI immigrants to cover the areas where people are lacking and play an active role.

The phenomenon in the US of "achieving record profits without hiring or while cutting staff"

In the US, for intellectual labor, the following things have already been happening simultaneously over the past 2-3 years.

• Sales and profits are at all-time highs

• Number of employees is flat or decreasing

• Stock prices rise even after large-scale layoffs

• The myth that 'employment equals growth' is collapsing

This phenomenon is spreading across sectors, from SaaS, manufacturing, and logistics to finance, with Big Tech companies like GAFAM being particularly prominent.

In management, hiring people has become the biggest risk for businesses.

From here on, this will permeate from white-collar tasks performed on PCs to labor-intensive areas.

Going forward, Japan's stock prices will likely continue to rise, but hiring will likely decrease.

In the past, companies generated profits by relocating to overseas markets with lower labor costs than domestic ones, but this is rapidly shifting to a structure where profits are generated through the transition from humans to physical AI.

The era of unmanned operations is a phase shift in capitalism

The phenomenon currently occurring in the U.S. of 'record profits despite layoffs' is not due to business cycles or the ruthlessness of executives, but is the result of capitalism itself undergoing a phase shift.

In the capitalism of the past, hiring people, expanding organizations, and increasing employment were proof of growth.

However, that premise has now completely collapsed.

People are a fixed cost for companies and entail complex risks such as social security, litigation, mental health issues, and turnover.

On the other hand, AI and automation are variable costs, and the more they are used, the lower the marginal cost becomes, and productivity grows exponentially.

The source of productivity is shifting from 'people' to 'models,' leading to unmanned and labor-saving operations.

If you combine AI with a small number of talented people, jobs that once required a large workforce can be sufficiently handled, and the value of maintaining a large number of average employees has been lost.

The criteria by which shareholders evaluate companies have also changed

And the criteria by which shareholders evaluate companies have also changed.

It is no longer about the number of employees, but 'profit margin × scalability'.

Companies that grow by increasing headcount are a thing of the past, and companies that can maximize profits while reducing headcount are the ones evaluated as correct.

In other words, not hiring, not retaining, and staying lean is proof of management capability.

This is not a temporary trend, but a sign that capitalism has moved to its next stage.

Investment skills and literacy are becoming essential

So, how should we proceed now that the form of capitalism has changed?

What becomes extremely important during this transitional period where the form of capitalism is changing is

having the skills and literacy to generate income not only from labor but also from financial investments.

I think the difficulty of becoming an AI expert now and working at top AI companies like GAFA is quite high.

This is a matter of structure.

Average skills, average judgment, and average effort will have their value collapse the moment they are compared to AI.

As a result, companies can generate record profits while not hiring and cutting staff.
This is an irreversible structure.

However, if companies leading this kind of world are generating record profits, you can invest in them and obtain the money necessary for your life from there.

Eventually, there will be talk of things like basic income, but that is still a story for the future.

The transitional period will continue until then.

However, the labor market will continue to change rapidly.

While overcoming such a transitional period, the importance of having money work for you, as something ordinary people can do right away instead of relying on labor, will increase.

Since knowledge and time spent experiencing are important for having money work for you, it is important to start right away.

Securing a portfolio that combines income from financial investments with labor income will become important for everyone during this transitional period.

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[How have social and financial rules changed in 2026?]

I will be holding a free seminar with private banker Mr. Kuranari.
Regarding the major changes in our lives in 2026.
And about the major shifts happening in the world,20It will be held on the 20th, and there are only a few seats left.

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▶️In the coming era, jobs will favor people who are ○○

▶️2026 will be the first year where this ability causes a wealth gap

▶️In 2026, this will gain momentum as a survival strategy