World on the Brink
China supplied most of the global humanoid robot market in 2025, though most of those Chinese robots went into applications like entertainment, research, education, and guided tours, not advanced manufacturing or logistics. U.S. manufacturers are also competing in humanoid robotics and some have major plans to ramp up production. With significant additional technological improvements needed before humanoids’ use in many applications, China’s early lead in production is not yet an inevitable end result.
The industry is, however, at a crucial period where U.S. firms need to be able to bring their technology to the market, iterate and improve their designs, and achieve economies of scale.
