00:27:35 · Brennand Pierce, Danny Fortson, Katie Prescott
[00:27:35] S9: Yeah. So you you get the state where we talked about, alright, you need, like, hundreds or thousands of people to collect data. There's videos coming out of China where this Chinese government's like, great. We're just gonna build a a massive warehouse and put 5,000 people in there, collect data, and just give it to the robotic companies. And they have the [00:27:53] S8: Just an army of 5,000 people tying their shoes over [00:27:57] S9: and over. Exactly. And then you have in universities research in motors, and you have a, like, a pipeline of very good robotics and AI people. So they have this whole, you know, state Yeah. Machine. Machine grinding away. It'd be like... Whereas you do get, like, Silicon Valley has a lot of money, but it's a bit more fragmented where you have, like, obviously, figure, agility, and these companies. But you don't really have, like, a a European or an American government who's like, great. We're just going to hire 50,000 people to collect data and just make it open to our robotics companies. [00:28:29] S8: And I was gonna say just on that 30, that is 30% cheaper if you are manufacturing in China yourself? [00:28:36] S9: Yes. At the same time [00:28:37] S4: manufacturing Oh, really? [00:28:40] S8: What about manufacturing outside of China? [00:28:42] S9: Good luck. [00:28:43] S8: Is that, like, just not a thing, or is it, like, 10 times as much?
00:28:43 · Danny Fortson, Brennand Pierce, Katie Prescott
[00:28:43] S8: Is that, like, just not a thing, or is it, like, 10 times as much? [00:28:47] S9: We looked at it, like, four or five years ago. The problem you get is supply chain, so you even get to injection molding. So we went in in America and went around a couple of injection molding companies. But when you chat to them, it's like, well, all your plastic comes from China. All your molds, like, the people that actually make all these crazy molds to make the injection molded parts, the knowledge to actually make the... The machine that makes a machine is actually a very complex part. And when we spoke to them, they're like, yeah, we outsource that to China. So it's like, great. So even if you make the plastic part in America, the machine is is designed and built in China and shipped over. All the raw materials are made in China and shipped over. You pray a premium in America. You're like, why why wouldn't I just get the injection molded part? Then you do that for all of the parts. You're like, alright, we need a motor. And you're like, you could probably buy the same motor in Europe, but it's 50% more expensive. So you're like, well, if I gotta buy the motor, I'll buy it from China. And then if you do that, you're like, well, I might as well just build it in China. [00:29:46] S4: So end so end to end for you, you're manufacturing in China. Everything's coming from China, and it's 30% more expensive for you because you're a foreign company.
00:29:46 · Katie Prescott, Brennand Pierce, Danny Fortson
[00:29:46] S4: So end so end to end for you, you're manufacturing in China. Everything's coming from China, and it's 30% more expensive for you because you're a foreign company. [00:29:55] S9: Yeah. We we do some in Korea and Vietnam and other places like that, but primarily, a lot of the parts come from China. [00:30:02] S8: Right. So it's just... Is it fair to say then that basically the robotics industry is in China? [00:30:07] S9: For hardware, probably, yes. Yeah. Interesting. If you wanna compete with price. Yeah. I I don't think any Western company is really manufacturing them anywhere I Right. [00:30:18] S4: Right. There we go. [00:30:20] S9: No. That's Well, it's [00:30:21] S8: just interesting because when you think about... Because we talk about AI, you know, every week, and this is another area where China is just dominating. And if you believe that this is one of the kind of industries of the future, you would think that people would be concerned about that. [00:30:39] S9: I do think at the moment, I could be biased, but, you know, America and Europe probably is ahead at the moment in terms of software, in terms of foundational models coming out of NVIDIA. There's also, like, companies like PieZero, Real World, and some of these unskilled AI in America that are actually working on the AI models for the robot. And we we do have really good universities in Europe, you know, Oxford, Cambridge, Technical University, Munich, Switzerland, and things like that. You know...
00:30:39 · Brennand Pierce, Katie Prescott, Danny Fortson
[00:30:39] S9: I do think at the moment, I could be biased, but, you know, America and Europe probably is ahead at the moment in terms of software, in terms of foundational models coming out of NVIDIA. There's also, like, companies like PieZero, Real World, and some of these unskilled AI in America that are actually working on the AI models for the robot. And we we do have really good universities in Europe, you know, Oxford, Cambridge, Technical University, Munich, Switzerland, and things like that. You know... [00:31:10] S4: In that spirit, did you watch the recent Robot Olympics in China, or at least some of the stuff on YouTube? [00:31:17] S9: Oh, yes. Of course. [00:31:18] S4: What was your favourite event? [00:31:20] S9: I still quite like running because that was a lot of my PhD work. Really? [00:31:25] S4: Making robots run. [00:31:26] S9: Well, back then, we couldn't make them run. That was the point. [00:31:29] S8: So before we let you go, I'm gonna ask you to make a prediction. How long... The year is '20 x before you have a robot in your house that can make your fried egg and make your bed. [00:31:43] S4: And how long until they're doing the running Olympics without having to have a fire hose sprayed at them and and a crash mat at the end of them, of course. [00:31:50] S9: I I think for the home... For early adopters, I think 2035? [00:31:56] S4: 2035? [00:31:58] S9: That's Nine years? Ridiculous. Nine years or something like that. And also, that's far [00:32:02] S8: Hard things are hard, Katie. This is this is progress.
00:32:02 · Danny Fortson, Katie Prescott, Brennand Pierce
[00:32:02] S8: Hard things are hard, Katie. This is this is progress. [00:32:06] S4: No. Mean, that's, like, not that far away. We'll [00:32:09] S9: be Oh, I hope. [00:32:10] S4: Alive. No. [00:32:12] S8: Yeah. Rosie the robot in a decade. [00:32:14] S9: Whatever. You you do get the point, though, I think, that a lot people miss with the home humanoids. I think it'd be like a couple of percentage population actually has them. If you look at the cost, you know, not many people have cleaners, and I think I pay like 200 a month for a cleaner. So is someone gonna be willing to pay thousand pounds a month if they're not gonna pay 200 for a cleaner? [00:32:36] S4: I'm looking at Danny. [00:32:39] S8: But this is what we've been talking about a lot is, like, you know, the Silicon Valley hype machine is is an overdrive, And they're like, oh, everybody's gonna have one. And you're like, no. They're not. [00:32:50] S9: I know people that don't even have a dishwasher. [00:32:52] S4: Yeah. I mean, I barely have a car. [00:32:54] S9: I don't have a car. [00:32:55] S4: You don't really need one. Exactly. So do you really need a humanoid robot cleaner? Anyway, thank you very much for coming in. [00:33:02] S9: My pleasure. [00:33:05] S8: So you're gonna get yourself a robot? [00:33:07] S4: I think you both you you both proved my point. Right? [00:33:11] S8: Which is? [00:33:12] S4: People want them because they look funny, and you all watched Star Wars and thought CP three o was great. And actually, if you want to make a robot that does something practical, a wheel is better than legs.
00:33:12 · Katie Prescott, Danny Fortson
[00:33:12] S4: People want them because they look funny, and you all watched Star Wars and thought CP three o was great. And actually, if you want to make a robot that does something practical, a wheel is better than legs. [00:33:23] S8: What? Unless you have stairs. [00:33:25] S4: And cheaper. I mean, did you hear the cost of hands? $30,000 of hands, each one. [00:33:31] S8: That's... Those are ex... Those are expensive hands. That's that's crazy. The thing that I... That that that I just find so interesting is just the the China piece of it and how he's just like... To hear him tell it, it's like there is effectively no robotics industry outside of China of any size or has any hope of competing, which is just interesting because if I take your skepticism, I hear it loud and clear. But if robotics does become a thing, and that is a big if, that's... It's another thing that China just is set to dominate.