American robotics companies are asking for a national robotics plan that would include creating a federal office to support the industry, especially now that China is making smart robots a national focus.
Company leaders — from Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics — met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to show their robots and ask for new policies to help American firms compete in the worldwide effort to create the next wave of robots.
Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of Apptronik, a company in Austin, Texas that makes human-like robots, reminded lawmakers that it was the American car company General Motors that first used a robot in a factory in New Jersey in 1961. But after that, the U.S. lost its early advantage to Japan, which, along with Europe, has become a major force in industrial robotics.
Cardenas said the next phase of robotics will be driven by artificial intelligence and could be won by anyone. “I think the U.S. has a great chance of winning. We’re leading in AI, and I think we’re building some of the best robots in the world. But we need a national strategy if we’re going to continue to build and stay ahead,” he said after the private meeting.
The Association for Advancing Automation said such a plan would help American companies grow and spread the use of robots, which it describes as the physical result of AI. The group pointed out that China and other countries already have their own plans.
Without action, “the U.S. will not only lose the robotics race but also the AI race,” the group said in a statement.
The group recommended tax breaks to help speed up robot use, as well as federal support for training programs, academic research, and business innovation. It said a new federal office for robotics is needed partly because of rising international competition and because the technology is becoming more advanced.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, said he thinks the U.S. is doing well but that China’s companies are skilled and the country is putting in a lot of money very quickly.
“So we need to maintain our innovation and maintain our culture of entrepreneurship,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Johnathan Chen, who leads the Optimus Engineering team at Tesla, which is creating a human-like robot that CEO Elon Musk hopes will one day go to Mars, said that being able to mass produce the robots will be an important part of international competition. “You create the robots, the question is who’s going to scale them?” Chen said.
China is currently the biggest market for robots that work in factories and other industrial settings, with about 1.8 million robots working there in 2023, according to the International Federation of Robotics, based in Germany.
A Tesla RobotRobot makers in Japan and Europe are still the top suppliers of large factory robots across the world. However, Chinese robot makers now make up about half of the robot market in China, according to the same group.
It’s harder to measure how newer types of robots, like human-shaped or animal-like robots, are progressing because they are not yet used widely in business. Boston Dynamics, a pioneer company in Massachusetts that is now owned by South Korean carmaker Hyundai, got its start with U.S. military funding to create fast and flexible robots that can move on legs.
China now plans to bring robotics together with other new technologies like artificial intelligence. The country sees human-like robots as an important new area and has launched a government-supported investment fund of $138 billion focused on robotics, AI, and other new tech developments.
Earlier this year, China’s state TV showed dancing robots at its New Year celebration. Dozens of human-shaped robots from Chinese company Unitree, which competes with Boston Dynamics, danced and waved handkerchiefs, encouraging national pride in China’s progress with human-like robots that can compete with those in the U.S.
In a yearly government report, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said China will focus on joining digital technologies with its manufacturing and market strengths. This includes building smart robots and connected electric cars.
In both the U.S. and China, robots that look like people and use AI have caught public attention. But some people in the field still question how useful they really are.
“We don’t like humanoid robots very much because they’re silly,” said Bill Ray, a technology analyst from the UK working for Gartner, a research company. “They look fantastic, but they’re not very practical.”
Ray said he prefers robots that have multiple functions, such as wheeled machines that can carry heavy items at airports but don’t look like humans. He doesn’t believe government help will strongly affect which country leads the way.
“In the political climate at the moment, we’re not expecting to see fleets of Chinese robots working in American factories or fleets of American robots working in Chinese factories,” Ray said. “I think that’s a given.”
Cardenas, whose robot Apollo has support from tech companies like Nvidia and Google, said a national plan could help the U.S. encourage more people to use robots. It could also help train a new group of engineers and scientists.
“Humanoids are going to play a big role both practically and in capturing the imagination of the public,” Cardenas said.
