In the race to mass produce robot dogs, China is beating the United States....
Philadelphia-based Ghost Robotics developed its 'Vision 60' robots from Army-funded academic research in quadruped movement.
The company wasn't alone.
China's Unitree Robotics – among the world's biggest producers of humanoid and canine robots – based designs for its most successful four-legged machines on the same, military-funded breakthroughs, researchers involved in the projects told Reuters.
:: Gavin Kenneally, CEO, Ghost Robotics
“This is technology that at its core was developed at U.S. universities, funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars…”
Gavin Kenneally is the CEO of Ghost Robotics, which has supplied the U.S. military with Vision 60s for surveillance and search operations.
"There were papers published, and then these papers were very closely studied by Chinese companies like Unitree, and these principles were put to work and then scaled in an exceptional way using amazing manufacturing and supply chain technology to where now you see companies like Unitree and other companies in China are shipping way more legged robots than American companies are."
Unitree did nothing underhanded in using the research - which was openly published to stimulate progress, a common practice.
But, it helped propel the company to global market dominance. AND, the company's imminent Shanghai stock market debut has drawn frenzied demand.
Unitree did not respond to requests for comment. It has said in public statements that its products are intended for civilian use - and in 2022, the firm alongside U.S. companies pledged not to weaponize robots.
But, another company's robotic 'wolves' were displayed at a military parade in Beijing last year.
And Chinese state television has shown an armed version of a Unitree robot alongside Chinese troops.
Publishing U.S.-funded research presents a broader issue for American firms competing with Chinese manufacturing - which has developed at lightening pace over the past decade in industries critical to national security, backed by subsidies and a tolerance for heavy losses.
Here’s Hugh Grant-Chapman, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies - or CSIS.
:: Hugh Grant-Chapman, Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
"I think the biggest factor in China's advantage for developing its robotics industry is its massive industrial base. You know, its, vast ecosystem of manufacturing, factories and things that provide, both kind of, a demand side support for its robotics industry as well as cheap access to all the components it needs to to manufacture those. And I when I look at, you know, where the U.S. has fallen behind, I see that loss and hollowing out of the manufacturing sector as being a really big driver of why the kind of corresponding national security applications have fallen behind as well."
None of the robotics researchers who spoke with Reuters advocated for keeping the government-funded research they participated in secret.
But the researchers argue U.S. policymakers should make it easier for companies to bring new technology to market to compete with China.
Even then, the only way to escape China’s chokehold on the robotics supply chain is to work with international partners, says Kenneally.
“There's no way we're going to do this, completely on our own as the U.S. We need to work closely with our allies in particular. You know, at Ghost we work very closely with, companies in Korea and Taiwan and Japan, where they have some of this manufacturing and supply chain expertise. So there's absolutely no path forward without them.”
SLATE: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it was protecting Americans from foreign threats and preparing the country "to deliver on President Trump’s vision to lead the world on the next generation of technologies."
Posted by: AAngeles/NET25 News
