In a move that suggests Washington has finally clocked that the 21st century is well underway, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced the National Commission on Robotics Act. The legislation, spearheaded by Representatives Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), and Bob Latta (R-OH), aims to establish a national commission to figure out how America can avoid being left trailing in the wake of the global robotics race.
The bill tasks the Department of Commerce with assembling a temporary 18-member “brain trust” of experts from industry, academia, and government. This committee will be handed a two-year mission: to scrutinise everything from supply chain vulnerabilities and workforce disruption to manufacturing competitiveness and the ever-present shadow of national security. Their findings will culminate in a final report packed with “actionable recommendations” for Congress and the White House. “As robotics continue to reshape our economy, manufacturing base, and national security, it is essential that the United States remain the global leader in robotics innovation,” said Congressman Obernolte in a statement that could arguably have been issued at any point in the last decade.
The proposal has drawn predictable, if slightly relieved, applause from the sector. Boston Dynamics, the firm responsible for those viral videos of incredibly agile (and occasionally clumsy) robot dogs, praised the bill as “the first piece of federal legislation in support of the growth and success of the robotics industry in the United States.” Michael Robbins, CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), added that dominance in this field “will determine who leads the next industrial revolution.”
Why does this matter?
While Washington forms a committee to write a report, the rest of the world is deploying robots at a blistering pace. The urgency behind this bill becomes starkly clear when you look at the data. According to the latest “World Robotics” report from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the United States ranked a rather middling eleventh globally in robot density in 2023, with 295 robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing sector.
That figure looks positively quaint compared to the world leader, South Korea, which boasts a staggering 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees. Germany and Japan also significantly outpace the US, with 429 and 419 units respectively. Meanwhile, China, which now sits in third place, is currently installing more industrial robots than the rest of the world combined, demonstrating a ferocious national commitment to automation. This commission isn’t just about “fostering innovation”; it’s a belated attempt to prevent the US from falling into a strategic “robot gap” with severe economic and national security implications. The clock isn’t just ticking; it’s practically chiming.
