Robinhood launches AI agents that can trade stocks on users' behalf

Robinhood announced AI agents (autonomous systems that make decisions and take actions) that can execute stock trades on behalf of account holders, marking one of the first major cases of bringing agents to retail investors rather than institutional or tech-focused users.

Users can set spending limits and approve individual trades; the tools currently cover stocks but will expand to options, futures, and cryptocurrency. Robinhood is also rolling out agents that can make credit card purchases on a user's behalf, similar to tools from Google and Stripe.

The move allows retail investors to compete more directly with institutional investors that have long deployed automated trading systems, though the article flags risks when new technology reaches everyday investors prone to panicking during market downturns.