US Leads in Robot Brains but Trails China in Deployment, Commission Says

A gap between intelligence and installation

According to the preliminary findings, the United States leads in the technologies behind modern robotics, including artificial intelligence, computer vision, autonomy and software. What it lacks, the Commission says, is the scale to deploy robots, produce robotic systems and manufacture critical components at home.

The report puts numbers on the imbalance. China installed 295,000 industrial robots in 2024, which is 54% of the global total, compared with 34,200 in the United States. China's installed base now exceeds two million robots, more than five times America's. The U.S. ranks eighth in robot density, and only 12.1% of U.S. manufacturing plants reported using robots in 2021.

The Commission defines "Physical AI" as AI embodied in machines that sense and act in the real world. Its gains, the report finds, will arrive only when the technology is installed, integrated and put to productive use.

A supply-demand paradox and four problem areas

At the center of the problem, the report identifies a supply-demand paradox. Manufacturers wait for robots to become cheaper and better proven, while robotics firms cannot lower costs or improve performance without deployment at scale. The Commission calls this a market failure that is unlikely to resolve on its own.

The key findings fall into four areas:

• A fragmented national framework. Federal robotics programs are spread across at least four executive departments with no single accountable authority. Public confidence is uneven, and dependence on foreign components, including China's roughly 94% share of permanent-magnet production, creates supply-chain and cybersecurity risk.
• A talent pipeline under strain. U.S. manufacturers could face up to 1.9 million unfilled jobs by 2033. Robotics can help fill dangerous and chronically vacant roles, but employment effects are not predetermined and depend on the pace of adoption and on whether training and job redesign keep up.
• Barriers to adoption at scale. Small and medium-sized manufacturers, about 95% of U.S. manufacturing firms, face capital constraints, knowledge gaps, narrow return-on-investment metrics, and cybersecurity and liability uncertainty. AI-assisted programming, low-code tools and collaborative robots are expanding what is possible, but safety and performance standards are lagging.
• An innovation ecosystem that cannot yet scale. Venture capital timelines are poorly matched to hardware, and supply chains are opaque and concentrated. Operational data is scarce and fragmented, and integration costs remain high.

A national mission built around deployment

The preliminary report concludes that the United States needs a national mission organized around deployment. According to the Commission, it would mobilize private-sector dynamism, research strength, capital markets, regional manufacturing ecosystems and skilled workers, without copying China's state-directed model or requiring domestic production of every component.

The Commission is co-chaired by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and SCSP President Ylli Bajraktari. "The United States invented much of the intelligence behind modern robotics, but intelligence that can't be built, deployed, and sustained at scale won't secure American industrial leadership," Bajraktari said. He added that the challenge is a system problem in which adoption, production, workforce, financing and data all reinforce one another.

Senator Budd said the Commission's report is "an important step toward identifying how we can harness the full potential of physical AI, automation, and robotics." Senator Slotkin said the country can bring back and expand critical manufacturing "without harming America's workers."

What comes next

The report is a diagnosis, not a set of prescriptions. The Commission's final report, scheduled for March 2027, will propose recommendations for federal, state and regional leaders; manufacturers and technology companies; educators and workforce-development organizations; workers and labor representatives; investors; and research institutions.

For manufacturers, especially the small and medium-sized firms that make up about 95% of the sector, the findings point to cost, knowledge, liability and standards as the hurdles that any future recommendations will need to address. The Commission describes itself as a bipartisan initiative bringing together leaders from manufacturing, technology, academia, research, investment, national security and government.