Robotics
Indian startup Ati Robotics sidesteps China dependency as US bans imports
A roboticist seizes on new US trade restrictions by revealing how his company built robots with minimal Chinese components—and why others in the industry are scrambling.
WIRED — AI
When the US Federal Communications Commission prohibited imports of Chinese humanoid robots last week, it created an unexpected opening. Ati Robotics, an India-based manufacturer assembling autonomous cargo movers, had already positioned itself to exploit that gap by engineering most of its hardware in-house and avoiding reliance on Chinese suppliers wherever possible.
The US move underscores a growing tension in the robotics boom: capital is flooding into the sector at record levels, yet most companies—especially software-focused startups—still depend heavily on Chinese components for physical systems. Ati's approach, developed years before the ban, may now become a competitive advantage.
Building in India to escape the supply chain trap#
Founder Saurabh Chandra launched Ati in 2017 initially targeting autonomous vehicle motors. The pivot toward warehouse robotics came later, along with a strategic insight: developing custom hardware in Bangalore unlocked access to India's emerging electric vehicle supply chain, where manufacturers had already refined efficient, reliable parts for two- and three-wheelers.
This decision proved costly in the short term—R&D-heavy hardware development rarely comes cheap—but it had an unanticipated benefit. By designing proprietary actuators, motors, and control systems, Ati naturally avoided dependency on off-the-shelf Chinese components. Advisers initially questioned the gamble. It paid off.
How "mostly China-free" actually works#
Today, Ati's flagship tugger—a 10,000-pound autonomous vehicle that moves materials through factories and warehouses—relies almost exclusively on non-Chinese parts, with the sole exception of battery cells. The company's pallet mover contains less than 5 percent Chinese content.
The tradeoffs are real. Induction motors, which Ati chose to sidestep Chinese-made brushless alternatives, are slightly less efficient but allowed the company to avoid dependency on rare-earth magnets sourced from China. For lidars, the newer humanoid uses a US-based sensor supplier (Ouster) rather than cheaper Chinese options.
Even the upcoming humanoid, expected to launch later this year as a bin-moving workhorse, incorporates gears from China at present—but Ati notes that equivalent components exist from manufacturers in Germany, Taiwan, and Japan, making future supply-chain transitions feasible.
