, Columnist
The Era of Humanoid Robots Is Here. The US Needs Control.
These machines will be integral to the economy and defense industry, and the nation must take charge of the supply chain and assembly.
Multitasker.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
For an industry that’s only just getting started, there’s a lot of hype around humanoid robots.
You can thank Elon Musk and his bold pronouncements around Tesla Inc.’s Optimus robot. Morgan Stanley also threw gasoline on the hype fire with its forecast of nearly 1 billion humanoids in service by 2050 amid a $5 trillion market. And then there are the slick internet videos showing human-shaped robots doing back flips, cartwheels and other spectacular feats.