The Trump administration is preparing a major national push into robotics, exploring an executive order and new federal initiatives as part of its strategy to compete with China in advanced technology, reports Yasmin Khorram of Politico. Industry leaders are urging incentives, supply-chain support, and tougher trade policies, arguing robotics is essential to US manufacturing and AI leadership. But the effort raises concerns that rapid automation could undercut Trump’s goal of rebuilding factory jobs, even as supporters insist robots will augment workers and spur new employment rather than replace it. Khorram writes:
Five months after releasing a plan to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence, the Trump administration is turning to robots.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been meeting with robotics industry CEOs and is “all in” on accelerating the industry’s development, according to three people familiar with the discussions who were granted anonymity to share details. The administration is considering issuing an executive order on robotics next year, according to two of the people.
A Department of Commerce spokesperson said: “We are committed to robotics and advanced manufacturing because they are central to bringing critical production back to the United States.” […]
The International Federation of Robotics estimates that by 2023 China had 1.8 million industrial robots inside its factories, four times as many as the U.S. China, Japan, Australia, Germany and Singapore all have national robotics plans.
Catching up would require substantial investment. Funding is on pace to hit $2.3 billion in 2025 – double last year’s total, according to CB Insights. Goldman Sachs estimates the global market for humanoids could reach $38 billion by 2035. […]
“When companies are investing in robotics they’re also investing in more people because their company is doing better,” he said.
“It’s not man versus machine, but it’s man and machine that will take us into the future,” Cardenas said. “This is our view – robots that augment human capability and human capacity, versus robots that replace us. I think it’s important that we’re there first.”
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