SCSP National Security Commission on Robotics for Advanced Manufacturing Releases Preliminary Report: America Leads in Robotics Innovation but Is Not on Track to Lead in Physical AI

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the National Security Commission on Robotics for Advanced Manufacturing, an initiative of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), released its preliminary report. According to preliminary findings, the United States leads in the technologies that form the "brain" of modern robotics, including artificial intelligence, computer vision, autonomy, and software, but it lacks the scale to deploy robots, produce robotic systems, and manufacture critical components domestically.

Co-chaired by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and SCSP President Ylli Bajraktari, the Commission describes a consequential imbalance. China installed 295,000 industrial robots in 2024, 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.

"Physical AI" is AI embodied in machines that sense and act in the real world. The Commission finds that its gains will arrive only when the technology is installed, integrated, and put to productive use. The report identifies a supply-demand paradox at the center of the problem: 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.

Key findings from the Preliminary Report include:

• 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. They 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. New 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.

The preliminary report concludes that the United States needs a national mission organized around deployment. 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 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," said Bajraktari. "This report shows that the challenge is a system problem: adoption, production, workforce, financing, and data all reinforce one another. Fixing it will take coordinated national focus."

"To unlock the full economic potential of artificial intelligence, we must deploy it at the physical level across our economy. Reindustrializing the United States is essential to strengthening critical supply chains, securing American leadership in emerging technologies, and staying ahead of China. The Commission's preliminary report is an important step toward identifying how we can harness the full potential of physical AI, automation, and robotics. I look forward to continuing my work with the Commission to advance practical solutions that put U.S. tech leadership and innovation first," said Senator Budd.

"I will always fight to ensure the United States remains the global leader in manufacturing. We need to bring back and expand critical manufacturing processes here at home and shore up vulnerable supply chains in our most important sectors. And we can do so without harming America's workers. I thank the Commissioners for their hard work on this Interim Report," said Senator Slotkin

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.

About the Commission
The National Security Commission on Robotics for Advanced Manufacturing is a bipartisan initiative of the Special Competitive Studies Project. It brings together leaders from manufacturing, technology, academia, research, investment, national security, and government to ensure the United States has the industrial capacity, supply chains, and skilled workforce to build, deploy, and sustain physical AI systems at scale.

About SCSP
The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit project focused on strengthening America's long-term competitiveness as artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies reshape national security, the economy, and society.

For more information about the report and the Commission, please contact Tara Rigler at [email protected].

SOURCE Special Competitive Studies Project