"Hollywood in the 1970s and '80s often imagined a world where technology is so evolved it is almost human, from "Star Wars," in which R2-D2 and C-3PO are not just tools but also friends to humans, to "The Terminator," in which an assassin-robot is disguised as a human. Science fiction is about to become reality.
Artificial-intelligence-enabled humanoids capable of blending seamlessly into our world will soon be a part of everyday life.
Elon Musk claimed at a shareholder meeting in June that Tesla will deploy more than 1,000 Optimus humanoids to work on the factory floor next year.
He also said that humanoid technology will soon be so advanced that it will "be odd not to have a robot buddy, your C-3PO or R2-D2."
Other developments by Boston Dynamics, Figure, Amazon, and Chinese-based Unitree Robotics assure that the technology is here to stay.
But the real race over this technology isn't between private companies. It's between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party.
Congress must act to prevent products manufactured by adversarial regimes, especially China, from infiltrating our businesses, schools, communities and homes. Better yet, we must position the U.S. as a global leader in the field. This will increase opportunities for Americans and ensure that ethical standards shape the future.
Unfortunately, China already has a leg up, accounting for more than half of all robot installations worldwide over the past three years. Beijing is aggressively subsidizing advanced robot manufacturers and supporting efforts to build factories capable of mass-producing humanoids as soon as next year.
China wants to lead the world in all robotics -- especially humanoids -- and is able to do it for less, owing to its inhumane labor practices.
Estimates indicate Chinese humanoids might cost as little as one-fifth as much as their Western competitors.
And we know that Beijing is more than willing to violate international trade laws to dump cut-rate products into the U.S. and other markets, undercutting competition and emerging as the only option for consumers.
More than commerce is at stake. Chinese-manufactured humanoids threaten Americans' personal security because of the data they collect. These robots will take in limitless information about their surroundings, including any person with whom they interact.
Humanoids will become important to almost every industry, which means the economy will be tied to the largest producer of these robots.
Reliance on Chinese-made robots would tie American economic success to the goodwill of the Communist Party.
Humanoid robots will have both defensive and offensive national-security implications. The U.S. military is exploring ways to incorporate humanoids into modern warfare, but China has already deployed armed robotics to the battlefield. If the U.S. falls further behind in such critical technology, our troops will face fatal disadvantages on the battlefield.
We need to procure and develop this technology independent from China. The Defense and Homeland Security departments are already required by law to source some war-fighting technologies domestically. But humanoids could fit into statutory exceptions to these requirements.
The good news is that the playbook to prevent Chinese control of humanoids already exists. As part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress included a prohibition on Chinese drones for defense purposes and is poised to do the same with Lidar, a laser-based radar-like system. A similar restriction on Chinese humanoids is needed.
Congress should ban the importation of Chinese humanoids and ensure that no American technology can support their creation before Xi Jinping has his own robotic army on American soil.
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Mrs. Britt, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Alabama. Mr. Helberg is a senior adviser to the Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp." [1]
1. Humanoid Robots Are the Next Threat From China. Britt, Katie; Helberg, Jacob. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 Sep 2024: A.17.
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