American robotics companies are calling for a national strategy to support the industry, including the creation of a federal office to promote its growth, as China makes robotics a national priority. Representatives from Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to showcase their products and advocate for policies that would strengthen U.S. companies in the global race to develop the next generation of robots.

Jeff Cardenas, CEO of humanoid robotics startup Apptronik, highlighted that General Motors, an American company, introduced the first industrial robot in 1961. However, the U.S. lost its early lead to Japan, which remains a leader in industrial robotics. Cardenas noted that the next robotics race, driven by artificial intelligence, is “anybody’s to win,” and that the U.S. has a strong chance to lead, given its dominance in AI and robotics innovation (Tang & O’Brien 2025). However, he stressed the need for a national strategy to maintain the U.S.'s competitive edge.

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) argued that a national strategy would help U.S. companies scale production and promote robots as the “physical manifestation” of AI (Tang & O’Brien 2025). The group warned that without U.S. leadership, the country could fall behind in both robotics and AI, noting that China and other countries are already advancing in the field.

The A3 proposed tax incentives for robot adoption, federally funded training programs, and increased investment in academic research and commercial innovation. It also called for the creation of a federal robotics office to address growing global competition and the increasing complexity of robotics technology. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, acknowledged that the U.S. is ahead but noted that China is rapidly investing in robotics. “We need to maintain our innovation and our culture of entrepreneurship,” Krishnamoorthi claimed (Tang & O’Brien 2025).

Johnathan Chen, from Tesla’s Optimus Engineering, which is developing a humanoid robot, stressed that scaling manufacturing will be key to maintaining a competitive edge. “You create the robots, the question is who’s going to scale them?” Chen said (Tang & O’Brien 2025).

China is currently the largest market for industrial robots, with 1.8 million robots in operation in 2023, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). While Japan and Europe dominate the global market for large factory robots, China’s share of its domestic market has grown significantly. Emerging robot technologies, such as humanoids and legged robots, are harder to track, as they have not yet been widely commercialized.

While both the U.S. and China have sparked public interest in humanoid robots, industry analysts like Bill Ray from Gartner argue that practical applications, such as robots for transporting heavy packages, are more important. He believes government support will not significantly alter which country leads in robotics. 

Cardenas, whose company is backed by Nvidia and Google, argued that a national strategy in the U.S. could help accelerate robot adoption and the development of the next generation of robotics engineers. “Humanoids are going to play a big role both practically and in capturing the imagination of the public,” Cardenas said (Tang & O’Brien 2025).