https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/opinion/china-america-manufacturing-ai.html
China Automates While America Hesitates
By Jonas Nahm, The New York Times, Feb. 24, 2026
…
Robotics, automation and A.I. now make it possible to produce more with fewer human workers, though those who remain are more skilled and better paid. Unlike China, America has failed to reckon with this reality and organize manufacturing in ways that turn its own technological strengths into comparable gains. …
Today, A.I. is embedded into China’s efforts to accelerate automation — guiding machines, scheduling work and detecting problems in real time. China has built more than 30,000 smart factories…
Chinese electric vehicle company Zeekr had over 800 robots in its factory in Ningbo. The company even experimented with putting humanoid robots to work on its factory floor lifting boxes, assembling components and performing quality checks. Rather than following fixed instructions, the robots use cameras, sensors and A.I. to respond to conditions on the line, much like driver-assistance systems that adjust to traffic. That flexibility can allow them to handle variation, work safely alongside human workers and absorb routine changes that would otherwise force production to stop…
[snip list of AI in use in factories]
Only 18 percent of U.S. manufacturers surveyed by the Manufacturing Leadership Council said they have formal A.I. strategies for their operations; two-thirds said they were struggling to scale A.I. test projects into production…
When U.S. manufacturers attempt to automate, they often rely on imported robotics, sensors and machinery. Yet the Trump administration has opened a national security investigation into these robotics supply chains, potentially leading to tariffs that would raise the cost of such modernizing equipment…[end quote]
The article follows with a long list of helpful suggestions to enable practical use of AI in American factories.
The focus of U.S. AI companies on large language model development has left gaps in practical areas like math, science and factory automation.
Wendy