Most people have a rough idea of what a computer chip does, but fewer can say what a power semiconductor does. The short answer is that it controls electricity rather than data. And the reason the “Elon Musk’s NEW AI Masterplan” pitch from Brownstone Research’s Near Future Report leans so hard on them is that they are the parts every electric vehicle and every robot needs in large quantity.
The pitch promises that buying three “secret” stocks can “unleash enough wealth to make every household in America $2.38 million,” and its applications pick, onsemi, is one of the largest power chipmakers in the world. Understanding what that category of chip actually does is the first step toward judging whether the story holds up.
What a power semiconductor does
A logic chip processes information. A power semiconductor manages the flow of electricity. It converts voltages, switches current on and off, and controls how much power reaches a motor, a battery, or a sensor. The two most common building blocks are power MOSFETs, which switch fast at lower voltages, and IGBTs, which handle very high voltages and currents. They are often packaged together into modules that manage the power stage of a vehicle or machine.
The defining quality is efficiency. Every time a power chip switches, a little energy becomes heat. Across an electric vehicle or a factory full of robots, those small losses add up to wasted range and extra cooling. The best power chips switch fast, resist little, and run cool.
Why EVs and robots need so many of them
An electric vehicle’s inverter, the device that turns battery current into the alternating current the motor needs, is built from power semiconductors. The more efficient those switches, the farther the vehicle goes on a charge. The same parts appear in the onboard charger, the DC-to-DC converter, and the systems that manage the battery.
A humanoid robot is the same idea spread across a body. Every joint is a small motor that needs its own power stage, and the whole machine needs sensors to know where its limbs are. The Masterplan pitch makes this point directly, arguing that onsemi’s power-management chips will let the Optimus robot “move efficiently, stay cool, and run longer without needing to stop and recharge as often.”
Where onsemi sits in the market
onsemi is the second-largest power chipmaker in the world. Its parts go into electric-vehicle drivetrains, automotive safety systems, and industrial energy infrastructure. It is also one of the biggest suppliers of image sensors to the automotive market, which gives it a second angle on the robot story. The pitch notes that onsemi is “already supplying Tesla with a key piece of sensor technology,” and that relationship is real.
The fine print
The honest caveats are worth stating plainly. onsemi trades at about 18 times forward earnings with a roughly $28 billion market cap, and its tease price equals the current close of $71.67. That means this is a re-pitch at the current price. Today its revenue is overwhelmingly automotive and industrial, and the Optimus catalyst is years away.
There is also a headline number in the ad that does not belong to onsemi. The “$500 billion in 2027” figure is aimed at ASML, the chip-equipment maker whose annual revenue is around $30 billion. It is a rhetorical flourish, and it is the kind of number that should make a reader check the rest of the claims carefully.
The two workhorse devices are the power MOSFET and the IGBT, and it helps to know the difference. A MOSFET switches fast at lower voltages, which suits the fine-grained control a robot joint, a laptop charger, or a power tool needs. An IGBT handles very high voltages and currents, which suits an electric vehicle’s main inverter or a heavy industrial drive. Most modern designs use both, often packaged together into modules that spread heat and simplify wiring. onsemi makes all of these, which is why it shows up across cars, factories, data centers, and renewable energy rather than in a single niche. That breadth is the quiet strength of the power semiconductor category, and it is why the Masterplan pitch can point at one supplier for both electric vehicles and robots. The category may be unglamorous, but it is also unavoidable, because every battery and every motor needs a switch.
The takeaway
Power semiconductors are a real, durable theme with a clear mechanism, and onsemi is a genuine leader in the category. The marketing compresses a multi-year story into a near-term headline, but the underlying parts story is sound. For more on the theme, see our physical AI explainer, and for the robot angle specifically, our Tesla Optimus coverage.
The offer is worth stating plainly. The Near Future Report costs $179 for the first year and renews at $199, with a 30-day refund window, so you can read the full reports and ask for your money back if they do not hold up. Subscribing unlocks the special report the pitch is built around, the “Manifested AGI Revolution,” which names the stocks the ad teases. The fine print worth remembering is that these are large, well-covered companies trading near their current prices, not the “secret” the headline suggests.
Ready to see the research? Click here to view the Elon Musk’s AI Masterplan presentation.
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