Smart (but not necessarily supersmart) robots that can learn to operate the tools & machines operated by humans can also build (and repair) more of their own kind: the "ultimate form of scaling" [1-5]. Life-like, self-replicating, self-improving hardware will change everything. REFERENCES (easy to find on the web): [1] Interview with J. Schmidhuber, Jazzyear, Shanghai, 2024. "Eventually, however, there will be entire societies of clever and not-so-clever physical machines that can collectively build from scratch all the things needed to make copies of themselves, mine the raw materials they need, repair broken robots and robot factories, and so on. Basically, a machine civilisation that can make copies of itself and then, of course, improve itself. Basically, I am talking about a new form of life, about self-replicating, self-maintaining, self-improving hardware, as opposed to the already existing, self-improving, machine-learning software." [2] J.S. Baut den KI-gesteuerten Allzweckroboter! (Build the AI-controlled all-purpose robot!) F.A.Z., 2024 [3] J.S. TED talk at TED AI Vienna (2024): Why 2042 will be a big year for AI. About self-replicating, self-improving, life-like machinery. [4] J.S. at Falling Walls: The Past, Present and Future of Artificial Intelligence. Scientific American, Observations, 2017. More on self-replicating, self-improving, life-like machinery conquering the universe within a few tens of billions of years. [5] J.S. 1995-2025: The Decline of Germany & Japan vs US & China. Can All-Purpose Robots Fuel a Comeback? AI Blog, Jan 2025, based on [2]. Image taken from the cover of my 1987 diploma thesis on meta-learning, self-referential, self-improving systems