About
Core Matter is an independent research practice covering the full Physical AI stack and supply chain.
It covers the layer most robotics coverage stops short of: what the components cost, who makes them, and what has to change before a deployment pencils out. Published as a newsletter, with an interview series recorded where the work happens.
Core Matter is founded and written by Michelle Sun. She also angel invests in and advises early-stage teams across robotics and manufacturing.
How the research is done
Original sources, read directly. Regulatory filings from the SSE STAR Board and HKEX, supplier datasheets, IPO prospectuses and inquiry responses, and pricing quoted directly by factories. Interviews with the people building the components, recorded and published in full.
Every figure published carries a provenance label, so a reader can tell what a number is worth before deciding what to do with it.
- Filing-grade
- Taken from a regulatory filing. Audited, or disclosed under an exchange inquiry process.
- Company-claimed
- Stated by the company, in a datasheet, a press release, or on the record. Not independently verified.
- Third-party
- A tracker, a retail or reseller listing, a teardown, or a Core Matter estimate. Directional.
What it covers
- Actuators and reducers
- Harmonic and RV reducers, joint modules, motor sourcing and the cost floor beneath them.
- Tactile and force sensing
- Vision-based, magnetic and piezo approaches, and where each one binds.
- Dexterous hands
- Actuation architectures, degrees of freedom against actuation counts, and price by tier.
- Compute and power
- On-robot compute, batteries, and thermal limits.
- Manufacturing and supply chain
- Supplier structure, vertical integration, and what reshoring can and cannot replicate.
- Deployment economics
- What ships, what works, and the gap between a demo and a deployed fleet.
Michelle Sun
Michelle Sun runs Core Matter, working from filings, datasheets, and direct factory pricing. She began her career analysing technology, media and telecom companies at Goldman Sachs, and earlier founded First Code Academy, a coding education company that operated across five markets in Asia.
She is trilingual in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago, and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30.
- Forbes 30 Under 30
- Honoree
- Goldman Sachs
- Began her career as a TMT analyst
- First Code Academy
- Founder. Coding education across five markets in Asia
- University of Chicago
- BA in Economics
- TEDx and Bloomberg TV
- Speaker and contributor
- RoboBusiness 2026
- On the speaker program, Santa Clara, October
Bio, for programs and show notes
For conference programs, panel introductions, and podcast show notes. Please use one of these as written.
Standard · 95 words
Michelle Sun is the founder of Core Matter, an independent research practice covering the full Physical AI stack and supply chain. She publishes long-form analysis on the value chain underneath the robotics stack, covering component-level economics, supply-chain structure, and deployment reality, based on filings, direct factory pricing, and primary sourcing. She previously founded an edtech company and began her career as a TMT analyst at Goldman Sachs. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30, she has spoken at TEDx and on Bloomberg TV. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Short · 55 words
Michelle Sun is the founder of Core Matter, an independent research practice covering the full Physical AI stack and supply chain: component economics, supply-chain structure, and deployment reality. A former Goldman TMT analyst and edtech founder, she was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and has spoken at TEDx and on Bloomberg TV. BA in Economics, University of Chicago.
One line · Panel intro
Michelle Sun is the founder of Core Matter, an independent research practice on the full Physical AI stack and supply chain.
Get in touch
If you are building in this stack, the inbox is open. Corrections, datasheets, and disagreements are all welcome.
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Component economics, supply-chain structure, and deployment analysis, built from filings, datasheets and direct factory pricing.