Robinhood adds AI agents, perps, and 24/7 market access

The Bots Are Clocking In

Robinhood just dropped a massive update at its HOOD Summit in Houston, and it’s giving major main character energy for the retail trader. The platform is launching 'Robinhood Agents'—a new tool built right into the app that lets AI take the wheel. Unlike a basic chatbot that just spits out info, these agents are built to take action: researching markets, building strategies, and placing trades 24/7, even while you're getting your beauty sleep.

Here’s the tea: you open a separate account for your agent, name it, and set your own risk limits. You can even choose your AI model—OpenAI’s GPT-Luna is free to use through the end of the year. If you want to automate your life even more, an upcoming feature called 'Loops' will let your agent run strategies on repeat indefinitely.

High-Stakes Crypto Coming Soon

It’s not just AI bots making moves. Robinhood is also bringing perpetual futures (perps) to eligible U.S. customers. Perps are basically crypto bets that never expire, letting traders use leverage to multiply their position size. Robinhood is offering up to 10x leverage on Bitcoin and Ether, and 3x on tokens like SOL, XRP, DOGE, ADA, LINK, and HYPE.

Real talk: this is high-risk territory. With 10x leverage, a 10% move against you will liquidate your entire position. The platform plans to facilitate these trades via Bitstamp and will offer a 0.01% fee through the end of the year.

The Guardrails

While the vibes are definitely degen-friendly, there are safety measures. An agent is locked to its own specific account, and by default, you have to hit 'approve' on trades. CEO Vlad Tenev claims this brings tools once reserved for elite hedge funds to the everyday user. However, experts like Apollo’s Torsten Slok are sounding the alarm, warning that mass AI trading could make market volatility go haywire if too many bots pile into the same trades at once.

Why it matters

Robinhood is betting big on the future of 'agentic' finance and high-leverage trading. While the tech promises to level the playing field, remember that using leverage and handing control to an AI agent comes with serious risks. Always do your own research—this is not financial advice.