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Public.com Launches AI Agents That Execute Trades, Hedge Portfolios Autonomously
Acid Capitalist Editorial · Editorial Team · March 31, 2026
Autonomous AI agents are now executing real trades inside retail brokerage accounts — not paper trading, not alerts, actual orders. Public.com's launch today marks the first time retail investors can deploy hedge-fund-style strategies like protective puts and covered calls through plain language commands, with 50% of AI conversations already converting to live transactions within 24 hours. The agentic brokerage era isn't coming — it's here.
Why it matters
Retail investors can now deploy autonomous AI agents that execute real trades — not simulations — directly inside a brokerage account. This collapses the gap between hedge-fund-grade strategy execution and the average individual investor.
The big picture
Every major technological shift in brokerage history created a new category: the phone era produced full-service brokers, the internet produced discount brokers, mobile produced neo-brokers. Public.com is betting that AI produces the "agentic brokerage" — a model that paradoxically returns to full-service by replacing human advisors with always-on autonomous systems capable of executing complex multi-leg options strategies in seconds.
The implications extend beyond convenience. If AI agents handle strategy selection, strike identification, and execution, the traditional value proposition of active portfolio management — human judgment under time pressure — faces direct structural competition at the retail level.
Key details
- 50% of AI agent conversations on Public.com convert to a live transaction within 24 hours of launch — a conversion rate that signals genuine user intent, not passive exploration
- Agents run inside the existing Public.com brokerage account, meaning they have direct access to holdings, risk tolerance settings, and investment goals — no third-party integrations required
- Supported strategies at launch include protective puts, covered calls, cash management automation, and multi-leg structures including straddles and bull call spreads, all initiated through plain-language commands
- The system uses a fully deterministic workflow post-setup, meaning the AI cannot improvise or hallucinate once a strategy is live — execution follows only the guardrails the user confirmed during the conversational setup phase
- AI agents are free for existing Public.com customers and can run in parallel — users can monitor hypothetical agent behavior before committing to live execution
What they said
"Instead of 'buy 200 shares of Apple at this price,' the command might be 'increase my position if valuations compress another 15% from here.' The AI agent will help you at every step of the way — it's very conversational."
— Yannick Moehling, CEO, Public.com
"It actually runs in a fully deterministic workflow to ensure that there can't be any hallucinations or any improvisations on your account."
— Yannick Moehling, CEO, Public.com
The bottom line
Public.com has moved agentic investing from concept to live execution, with early conversion data suggesting retail investors are ready to hand autonomous systems real capital. The next phase — proactive agents that initiate contact around opportunities rather than waiting for user prompts — is already in development, and Moehling indicated that timeline is near-term, not theoretical.
Bias flag
This segment is an executive interview with no independent verification of the 50% conversion claim or the deterministic workflow architecture. Moehling is selling a product launch. The conversion figure and technical safeguards should be treated as company-reported until independently audited.