Robinhood CEO says AI agents will be capable of trading like humans
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev believes AI agents will eventually be able to trade like humans, bringing sophisticated investing tools to everyday users. The comments come as AI agents rapidly expand from coding into other industries, including finance.
AI is already writing software at many of the world's biggest technology companies, and now it could be headed for another major role - stock trading. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev believes AI agents will eventually be able to perform the same trading tasks as humans, giving everyday investors access to tools that have traditionally been available only to large financial firms.
AI agents are designed to complete tasks on behalf of users and have become a key focus for companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Robinhood has also started investing in the technology. In May, the company introduced AI-powered tools that can trade stocks and make purchases for users, with Tenev describing the move as part of a much bigger vision.
"The idea behind agentic trading[is] every capability a human can do will be available to an AI agent," Tenev told CNBC.
AI agents are expanding beyond coding
The idea comes as AI agents are rapidly finding applications across industries. In software development, companies including Meta, Microsoft and Google have publicly said AI now contributes to a large share of their code. AI startup Cognition recently raised $1 billion for its coding agent Devin, which is already used extensively within the company.
Cognition CEO Scott Wu recently told Tech Crunch AI should work alongside developers instead of replacing them. He believes agents can take over repetitive tasks, allowing programmers to spend more time building new products. Wu also expects similar AI systems to eventually support professionals in industries ranging from customer service to healthcare.
Tenev believes financial markets are another natural fit. Drawing on his experience in institutional trading before founding Robinhood, he said automated and AI-powered systems have already been used in professional trading for years.
“I was doing programmatic trading as an institutional player before starting Robinhood, and what you don’t realize is a large portion of trades are already automated and AI powered.” He added that these advanced capabilities have largely remained out of reach for retail investors.
“But that type of intelligence and complexity has been out of reach from everyday people.”
According to Tenev, Robinhood wants to change that by making sophisticated trading tools available to individual investors.
“The end state of agentic trading at Robinhood is to give the everyday person access to the same tools, the same computation, the same power that institutional investors in high-frequency trading firms have been enjoying for several decades.”
Robinhood continues expanding
Alongside its AI plans, Robinhood is growing its international business. The company recently announced crypto trading in the UK as part of its European expansion.
Robinhood's shares gained about 8% on Wednesday and rose another 2% in premarket trading on Thursday, although the stock is still down around 5% this year. After missing first-quarter profit expectations in April due to weaker crypto trading activity, market conditions have improved with stronger equity markets and easing geopolitical tensions.
The company, which says it serves nearly 28 million customers across 38 countries and three continents, also reduced its workforce by 10% earlier this month to improve efficiency. Despite the layoffs, Tenev said Robinhood remains in a strong position.
“Robinhood’s business has never been stronger.” He added, “We cannot default to operating as a heavily-layered organization. We must be a lean, hyper-focused team.”
AI is already writing software at many of the world's biggest technology companies, and now it could be headed for another major role - stock trading. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev believes AI agents will eventually be able to perform the same trading tasks as humans, giving everyday investors access to tools that have traditionally been available only to large financial firms.
AI agents are designed to complete tasks on behalf of users and have become a key focus for companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Robinhood has also started investing in the technology. In May, the company introduced AI-powered tools that can trade stocks and make purchases for users, with Tenev describing the move as part of a much bigger vision.
"The idea behind agentic trading[is] every capability a human can do will be available to an AI agent," Tenev told CNBC.
AI agents are expanding beyond coding
The idea comes as AI agents are rapidly finding applications across industries. In software development, companies including Meta, Microsoft and Google have publicly said AI now contributes to a large share of their code. AI startup Cognition recently raised $1 billion for its coding agent Devin, which is already used extensively within the company.
Cognition CEO Scott Wu recently told Tech Crunch AI should work alongside developers instead of replacing them. He believes agents can take over repetitive tasks, allowing programmers to spend more time building new products. Wu also expects similar AI systems to eventually support professionals in industries ranging from customer service to healthcare.
Tenev believes financial markets are another natural fit. Drawing on his experience in institutional trading before founding Robinhood, he said automated and AI-powered systems have already been used in professional trading for years.
“I was doing programmatic trading as an institutional player before starting Robinhood, and what you don’t realize is a large portion of trades are already automated and AI powered.” He added that these advanced capabilities have largely remained out of reach for retail investors.
“But that type of intelligence and complexity has been out of reach from everyday people.”
According to Tenev, Robinhood wants to change that by making sophisticated trading tools available to individual investors.
“The end state of agentic trading at Robinhood is to give the everyday person access to the same tools, the same computation, the same power that institutional investors in high-frequency trading firms have been enjoying for several decades.”
Robinhood continues expanding
Alongside its AI plans, Robinhood is growing its international business. The company recently announced crypto trading in the UK as part of its European expansion.
Robinhood's shares gained about 8% on Wednesday and rose another 2% in premarket trading on Thursday, although the stock is still down around 5% this year. After missing first-quarter profit expectations in April due to weaker crypto trading activity, market conditions have improved with stronger equity markets and easing geopolitical tensions.
The company, which says it serves nearly 28 million customers across 38 countries and three continents, also reduced its workforce by 10% earlier this month to improve efficiency. Despite the layoffs, Tenev said Robinhood remains in a strong position.
“Robinhood’s business has never been stronger.” He added, “We cannot default to operating as a heavily-layered organization. We must be a lean, hyper-focused team.”
