China is making and installing factory robots at a far greater pace than any other country, with the United States a distant third, further strengthening China’s already dominant global role in manufacturing.
There were more than two million robots working in Chinese factories last year, according to a report released Thursday by the International Federation of Robotics, a nonprofit trade group for makers of industrial robots. Factories in China installed nearly 300,000 new robots last year, more than the rest of the world combined, the report found. American factories installed 34,000.
While Chinese factories have been using more robots, they have also gotten better at making them. The government has used public capital and policy directives to spur Chinese companies to become leaders in robotics and other advanced technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Worldwide, robots and artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly prominent and disruptive role in manufacturing. Factory robots range from machines that weld car parts together to claws that lifts boxes onto conveyor belts. As technology helps factories become more efficient, some are making do with fewer workers and altering the roles of others.
Over the past decade, China has embarked on a broad campaign to use more robots in its factories, become a major maker of robots and combine the industry with advances in artificial intelligence.
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The post There Are More Robots Working in China Than the Rest of the World Combined appeared first on New York Times.
