US needs to flesh out strategy to counter China’s robotics advances, lawmakers say
Although robots have been around for decades — primarily in manufacturing and to assist with other human-led tasks, such as medical procedures — these more powerful AI-infused machines can operate with greater autonomy. But even as the U.S. maintains its lead over China when it comes to global AI dominance, Congress and industry experts are concerned that America is ceding the robotics lead to Beijing.
During a House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology hearing, lawmakers and private sector representatives drew a contrast between fast-paced AI advances, and the development of actual, machine-based robots.
Michael Robbins, CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, said, “we are entering an era of embodied AI — or physical AI — where AI is the brain and robotics is the body,” warning the panel that “today, America may still be winning the race to build the brains, but we are losing the race to build and deploy the bodies.”
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. — the subcommittee’s top Democrat — echoed his comments, also noting that “America is home to the best and brightest AI scientists who are developing the brains,” but that “when robots are made in the U.S., they're often assembled with Chinese parts.”
China has increasingly touted its robotics progress, most recently by holding a race in which one of its humanoid machines beat the human half-marathon world record time. Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy also means that its private sector advances directly benefit its military ambitions, posing a national security threat to the U.S.
But China’s dominance in robotics also extends to the supply chains necessary for American companies to develop their own robots, Stevens noted. The country’s massive control of rare earth minerals and other components needed for developing robots and other advanced technologies, for instance, raises significant concerns about how best to decouple U.S. manufacturers from the Chinese market.
Jeff Burnstein, president of the A3 Association for Advancing Automation, said he wasn’t sure if banning Chinese-made robots — one potential way to drive domestic progress in the development of robotics — was a good idea because “right now, we do need those rare earth magnets here in the U.S., and I worry about, if we start a war over robotics, that we could lose some of those components that are vital to our goals.”
Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who chairs the House panel, said the U.S. needs to adopt a national robotics strategy to counter China’s ambitions and also embolden domestic manufacturing and workforce adoption of robots. He noted that China and some U.S. allies, like South Korea and Japan, already have their own strategies, and added that, “there's such an obvious linkage between a robotics strategy and our national economy and national security.”
Obernolte, alongside Reps. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, introduced a measure in February seeking to establish a commission to evaluate and drive U.S. leadership in robotics.
Some agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, have already been experimenting with using robots, although the benefits actually provided by these machines have been mixed. Still, lawmakers and officials see a need to further expand uses of these technologies in both the public and private sectors, despite widespread adoption likely being a few years away.
Politico reported in December that Trump administration officials, including Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick, were holding meetings with leaders from the robotics industry to discuss ways of turbocharging development of the advanced machines.
The White House’s AI Action Plan, released in July 2025, also included a section on supporting the development of next-generation manufacturing — a proposal that, Obernolte said, “notes the importance of this intersection between AI and robotics.”
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the ranking member of the full House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said, however, that the single robotics-based recommendation in the action plan is not enough.
“While individual science agencies continue to make investments in robotics, there’s no coherent strategy for U.S. leadership,” Lofgren said, adding that “we can and still must lead in the field of robotics, but to achieve that goal, we need a concerted national effort to support innovation across the full robotics system.”
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