BOSTON (AP) - Tariffs are not on the agenda of this week's Robot Summit, where thousands of tech industry workers are mixed with humanoid animals and other robot breeds and discuss how to build and sell a new generation of autonomous machines.
At least not the official agenda.
"Skip to the microphone," said Aaron Saunders, chief technology officer keynote speaker at Boston Dynamics. "And I'm a CTO, so don't ask me about the tariffs."
The crowd smiled and obeyed. But when they play to the showroom at the Boston Convention Center in the remote human body of the distant human robot made by Chinese company Unitree, it is hard to ignore the shadow of President Donald Trump’s biggest global tariffs and retaliatory measures against Trump’s biggest target China’s biggest target.
Event organizer Steve Crowe said the tariffs were “the first topic we discussed in the corridors and in the water coolers.” “I think that’s definitely the most important thing because there’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s going to happen.”
This concern is rooted in the complex anatomy of robots’ complex motors and actuators to move their limbs, computers to power artificial intelligence and induction devices to help them respond to their surroundings. Sensors, semiconductors, batteries and rare earth magnets are one of the most sensitive components to global trade disputes.
Tesla CEO and billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk warned investors last week that China's countermeasures have restricted the transportation of rare earth magnets, which will delay Tesla's development of Optimus Prime human robots.
At the summit Wednesday and Thursday, some humanoid biomakers are considering the potential bright side of the geopolitical shift, as U.S. businesses’ domestic supply of parts and the development of U.S. robots at factories and warehouses that can be automated are even more difficult to achieve.
“It has caused some inconvenience to our own supply chain. But it has also opened up opportunities,” Pras Velagapudi, chief technology officer of Oregon-based Agility Robotics, said in an interview. The company began deploying its humanoid robot in a U.S. factory run by German manufacturer Schaeffler, a key to the automotive industry for the manufacturers of ball bearings and other components.
Al Makke, head of chassis systems engineering at Schaeffler, said tariffs could drive many companies to open up production of various commodities in the United States.
“If this does happen, then local companies have to deal with high labor costs and labor shortages, so automation will push further,” said Mike. “One of the faces of automation is humanoids.”
Most of the large industrial robots used in the United States are used to help build cars and are imported from countries such as Japan, Germany or South Korea.
According to new data from the International Federation of Robots in the trade group, U.S. automakers install 9.6% of robots in their factories.
For now, humanoids are still a niche, but people can arouse strong curiosity due to popular science fiction. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics Saunders proposed developments on Wednesday about its Atlas humanoid robot, but instead brought an update to the physical prototype, it showed off a more familiar package of four-legged robots, which are included on a pen on the showroom.
One of the humanoids at the conference was Unitree's G1. The robot is sold for $16,000 and remotely controlled by an employee standing nearby, the robot shakes hands smoothly, waves to people and walks around the showroom, but won’t move the tote bags in the factory or work at the factory anytime soon.
Tony Yang, vice president of business development that manages North American sales, said that major customers outside China are academic researchers and some social media influencers, and Trump’s current tariffs will increase the cost of U.S. buyers to about $40,000. However, Unitree's strategy to quickly develop hardware and software is long-term.
"It's still a very narrow market, but I think there's still a huge potential market in terms of the industry, such as manufacturing, factory or even household use," Yang said.
On a full pickle field in the showroom, some meeting attendees took a break, grabbed the racket, and swayed the ball thrown by the wheeled robot. When asked about describing what is inside Tennibot robot, its manufacturer still imposed tariffs in mind.
"Inject molded parts, rivets, screws, nuts, wheels, motors, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries, batteries," said Haitham Eletretabi, co-founder and CEO of Tennibot, based in Auburn, Alabama. "The supply chain has become very complex. We get parts from around the world. Tariffs add a lot of uncertainty."
It's not just the U.S.-China trade competition, but also made some participants weigh. Francesca Torsiello, a recruiting company adapted to talent, said she also heard more alertness from Canadian robotics and engineering candidates working in the United States in a tense political environment.
"In the past, people in Canada found it attractive to work for American companies; now they are very hesitant," Torsiello said.
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AP Video reporter Rodrique Ngowi contributed to the report.