Standard Bots CEO Evan Beard told lawmakers last week that the United States must move quickly to rebuild its industrial capacity if it intends to lead the world in robotics.
Beard delivered his remarks before the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) during a hearing on Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies.
The JEC is a bipartisan congressional committee responsible for analysing economic conditions and advising Congress on ways to boost productivity, growth, and competitiveness.
Tuesday’s hearing was chaired by Representative David Schweikert and included testimony from the American Enterprise Institute, IonQ Technologies and Third Way.
Beard opened his written testimony by noting that “across both parties, there is agreement on something fundamental: rebuilding America’s manufacturing strength is essential for economic resilience, national security, and long-term competitiveness”.
He said that advanced robotics is now “a foundational technology – the fastest, most scalable way to rebuild competitively and bring back jobs.”
Standard Bots, headquartered in Glen Cove, New York, builds AI-powered robotic arms used by manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, Verizon and NASA. Beard told the committee that when the company began sourcing components, “American factories had essentially no American-made industrial robots.”
Foreign alternatives, he said, were “too expensive, too complex, and still unable to automate enough tasks for them to remain competitive.”
Beard laid out a four-part plan for US robotics leadership:
- creating “a nationwide network of Manufacturing Excellence Centers”;
- establishing “a national manufacturing loan program”;
- solving the talent shortage limiting US industry; and
- addressing what he described as “economic inequalities between the US and other countries in robotics”.
Chinese state support for domestic robot makers, he warned, threatens to undercut US companies as demand for automation rises. “We have a narrow window of time to act,” Beard said.
The remarks align with the Trump administration’s emphasis on revitalising American manufacturing and reshoring production of strategic technologies.
Beard concluded by telling lawmakers: “America is standing at a crossroads. Robotics and physical AI give us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild a competitive manufacturing base that strengthens the middle class, drives long-term economic growth, and secures our leadership in the world economy.”
