It was 60 degrees, damp and windy – August in San Francisco. Between graffitied picnic tables in a dive bar’s backyard, between local IPAs and cheap lagers, I listened to the “reindustrialize bros” talk about slicing US-sourced magnet slabs, building electric motors for military drones, and machining actuators for robots Made in America. The energy was palpable – a group of mostly young guys passionate about building technology that exists in your hand rather than on a screen. No one could doubt their enthusiasm, but I needed to see it for myself. Under its new branding of “Physical AI”, is robotics evolving from Bay Area backwaters to a true technological renaissance? Or was this happy hour more like a renaissance fair – a romantic longing for an irretrievable past when the US made things?

Full in-depth : Citrini analyst on a field trip to test robotics and humanoids capacity and capability.