America's robotics industry sees a familiar 'Made in China' problem
US robotics leaders are concerned that the industry's reliance on Chinese hardware manufacturing creates a significant bottleneck for scaling. While the US leads in software and AI intelligence, experts argue that domestic hardware supply chains are essential for long-term competitiveness.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing geopolitical tension in the tech sector, where software dominance is being challenged by physical manufacturing dependencies.
US robotics leaders and policymakers have raised concerns that its competition abroad, namely China, has a critical manufacturing and supply-chain advantage. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images Leaders in the US robotics industry see manufacturing as one of the main bottlenecks for scaling. Physical Intelligence cofounder Sergey Levine said access to hardware would advance US progress. Robotics executives have said a lot of the parts are outsourced from China. The brains may come from the US, but the body could very well be Made In China . At Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco-based startup, cofounder and researcher Sergey Levine is building the models, or brains, designed to provide intelligence for a range of robots — be they warehouse robots or humanoid machines. Physical Intelligence is one of many startups in Silicon Valley working on robotics software.
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