{"slug": "america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem", "title": "America's robotics industry sees a familiar 'Made in China' problem", "summary": "Sergey Levine, cofounder of San Francisco-based robotics startup Physical Intelligence, said on The Peterman Pod that the U.S. robotics industry's main weakness is its reliance on China for affordable, high-quality hardware, and that building a domestic supply chain is critical. Evan Beard, CEO of Standard Bots, told a congressional hearing in April that sourcing from China is generally 5 to 10 times cheaper than manufacturing in the U.S., and a June McKinsey analysis found China holds 90% of permanent-magnet processing capacity. The Federal Communications Commission in July blocked foreign-made humanoids and advanced robots from the U.S. market over national security concerns, but some researchers and startups say the ban limits access to affordable hardware.", "body_md": "The brains may come from the US, but the body could very well be [Made In China](https://www.businessinsider.com/america-losing-robot-war-china-trump-tariffs-musk-ai-2025-4).\n\nAt 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](https://www.businessinsider.com/robot-row-humanoid-hub-location-fremont-silicon-valley-agility-tesla-2026-7) working on robotics software.\n\nIn an episode of The Peterman Pod published Monday, Levine said the US robotics industry has its own advantages against competition abroad, but the one area that could significantly advance America's progress is building the hardware supply chain.\n\n\"Availability of reliable low-cost hardware is a big deal. And right now, hardware used for robotics research — a lot of that does come from China,\" Levine said. \"It's good. It's relatively inexpensive. It's of high quality and meets the standards that people generally need. But it'd be awfully nice to be able to source all of that domestically as well. I don't think there's anything impossible about that.\"\n\nBuilding an AI capable of making robots smart enough to handle a wide range of tasks is only part of the industry's challenge.\n\nIn the US in particular, [robotics leaders](https://www.businessinsider.com/robotics-tech-ai-startups-investors-funding-2026-8) have said sourcing the physical components for robots — the motors, chassis, batteries, sensors, and other materials — will be a major bottleneck for scaling, and that companies often rely on China to fill the gaps.\n\n\"The United States is no longer competitive in manufacturing, and we're falling further behind every day. Any company that builds hardware can tell you that if you source from China instead of making it here, it's generally 5 to 10 times cheaper,\" Evan Beard, CEO of Standard Bots, said during a congressional hearing in April.\n\nA June analysis from McKinsey found that China holds a \"significant share of capacity\" for robotics parts, including 90% of permanent-magnet processing. China's progress, according to the report, is due in part to its [electric vehicle ecosystem](https://www.businessinsider.com/godfather-of-evs-explains-why-china-is-winning-ev-race-2024-12), which shares some of the components needed in robots.\n\nUS robotics executives and policymakers say [China's rapid progress](https://www.businessinsider.com/unitree-stock-soars-ipo-china-humanoid-robotics-2026-8) in robotics and AI — combined with a strong manufacturing base — could hamper America's ability to effectively compete in what they view as a critical emerging industry.\n\nThe concern is heightened as Washington sees China as a strategic adversary. In July, the Federal Communications Commission effectively blocked new [foreign-made humanoids](https://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-robot-ban-silicon-valley-debate-startups-china-unitree-2026-7) and other advanced robots from entering the US market, citing national security concerns.\n\nWhile US manufacturers welcomed the move, some researchers and startups told Business Insider's robotics reporter, Rya Jetha, that the ban locks out access to affordable hardware.\n\nLevine said in the podcast that \"different industries that contribute to robotics need to individually be very healthy.\"\n\n\"I think that it's important to sort of fully embrace that this is a holistic thing and not something where we can do just one piece of it and outsource everything else,\" he said.\n\n*Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at *__lloydlee@businessinsider.com__* or Signal at lloydlee.71. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our *__guide to sharing information securely__*.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/us-robotics-race-china-competition-humanoids-manufacturing-supply-chain-2026-8", "published_at": "2026-08-25 04:02:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-25 04:15:57.791667+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Physical Intelligence", "Sergey Levine", "Standard Bots", "Evan Beard", "McKinsey", "Federal Communications Commission", "The Peterman Pod", "Business Insider"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/america-s-robotics-industry-sees-a-familiar-made-in-china-problem.jsonld"}}