Washington – October 13, 2026 -- China installed 295,000 industrial robots in 2024, 54% of the global total, versus 34,200 in the United States, according to the preliminary report of the National Security Commission on Robotics for Advanced Manufacturing, an initiative of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP).
The Commission is co-chaired by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and SCSP President Ylli Bajraktari. It finds that the U.S. leads in the technologies forming the "brain" of robotics, including AI, computer vision, autonomy and software. It lacks the scale to deploy robots, produce robotic systems and manufacture critical components domestically.
China's installed base exceeds two million robots, five times the U.S. level
China's installed base now tops two million robots, more than five times America's. The U.S. ranks eighth in robot density. Only 12.1% of U.S. manufacturing plants reported using robots in 2021.
Commission identifies a supply-demand paradox it calls a market failure
Manufacturers are waiting for robots to become cheaper and better proven. Robotics firms cannot cut costs or improve performance without deployment at scale. The Commission calls this a market failure unlikely to resolve on its own, and finds that gains from "physical AI", meaning AI embodied in machines that sense and act in the real world, will arrive only once the technology is installed, integrated and put to productive use.
Four structural barriers hold back U.S. deployment
- Fragmented framework: Federal robotics programs span at least four executive departments with no single accountable authority. Dependence on foreign components, including China's roughly 94% share of permanent-magnet production, creates supply-chain and cybersecurity risk.
- Talent strain: U.S. manufacturers could face up to 1.9 million unfilled jobs by 2033. Employment effects of robotics depend on adoption pace and on whether training and job redesign keep up.
- Adoption barriers: 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 widening what is possible, but safety and performance standards lag.
- Ecosystem limits: Venture capital timelines are poorly matched to hardware. Supply chains are opaque and concentrated, operational data is scarce and fragmented, and integration costs remain high.
Report calls for a national deployment mission without copying China's model
The preliminary report concludes the U.S. needs a national mission organized around deployment. It would mobilize private-sector dynamism, research strength, capital markets, regional manufacturing ecosystems and skilled workers. It would not copy China's state-directed model or require domestic production of every component.
Bajraktari said the challenge is a system problem in which adoption, production, workforce, financing and data reinforce one another, and that fixing it requires coordinated national focus. Senator Budd tied the effort to reindustrializing the U.S. and strengthening critical supply chains. Senator Slotkin said manufacturing can be expanded at home without harming American workers.
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 organizations, labor representatives, investors and research institutions.