China is advancing rapidly in embodied AI development through government policy support and private sector innovation, potentially gaining early dominance in AI-powered robotics while the United States risks falling behind without urgent manufacturing investment and strategic focus.
China is making significant advances in embodied AI—AI-powered robots and drones that autonomously interact with their physical environment—while Western nations largely overlook this strategic shift. The Chinese Communist Party has prioritized embodied AI in its 15th five-year plan as an economic growth engine, with local governments allocating resources to support companies like Agibot, UBTech and Unitree. Beijing views this technology as crucial for addressing labor shortages, boosting manufacturing productivity and enhancing autonomous warfare capabilities through drone swarms.
The United States risks repeating past industrial missteps unless it urgently invests in embodied AI manufacturing and research infrastructure. “DeepSeek was a warning shot. If the U.S. fails to learn the right lessons, the next surprise won’t be a chatbot. It will be Chinese robots reshaping the global economy,” the authors warn. American competitiveness requires government investment in manufacturing, public-private R&D partnerships and procurement policies creating domestic demand, alongside collaboration with European and East Asian allies to accelerate development.