“The United States is at a critical moment in shaping the future of automation,” says Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “While AI is a major focus, we cannot afford to fall behind in robotics. Our vision for a national strategy provides a roadmap for strengthening U.S. competitiveness, innovation and workforce readiness.”

Burnstein’s organization recommends six key policy priorities to drive U.S. leadership in robotics:

• Establish a central government robotics office and a robotics commission. The dedicated federal organization would coordinate robotics policy, innovation and industry collaboration, along with a commission of appointed industry and academic leaders to formulate policy recommendations to assert U.S. leadership in robotics and bolster economic and national security.
• Implement tax incentives to drive adoption. Tax credits and incentives would accelerate robotics investment and innovation.
• Government as a leading adopter. Federal agencies would be encouraged to integrate robotics into their operations, setting an example for industry.
• Expand workforce training programs. Investing in STEM education and upskilling programs would prepare American workers for automation-driven industries.
• Fund academic research and commercial innovation. Strengthening public-private partnerships would drive automation technology breakthrough and robotic advancements.
• Develop new industry standards. Modernizing standards would support safe and effective AI-powered robotics deployment.

“With recent advances, including the rapid integration of AI functionality, robots are becoming increasingly capable and essential in industries that will face worker shortages due to demographics,” says Brendan Schulman, chairman of the A3 advocacy committee and vice president of policy and government relations at Boston Dynamics Inc. “It is urgent for government leaders to launch a national robotics strategy….”