US Manufacturing Productivity Grows Only 0.4% Annually — Far Behind China? Experts: Equipping Workers with AI 'Superpowers' Is the Only Solution

Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer at Palantir, recently told media in an interview that since his op-ed in Fox News calling for America to better leverage artificial intelligence alongside American workers, there has been noticeable progress in the field. He also shared observations on how China is utilizing artificial intelligence.

In July, Sankar posted on social media platform X: "China treats AI as industrial policy, while our labs treat it as theology—a race to build a godlike machine. Beijing's strategy is to commoditize complements. The market cap of every frontier lab will ultimately become a demand signal for the entire tech stack beneath the model: power, chips, minerals, etc. Americans can and must win across the full tech stack."

Nonetheless, Sankar believes that even though the US currently lacks China’s systematic approach to scaling AI across industries, this will naturally happen in America as technology advances.

"For America, the only threats to whether AI can generate prosperity are suicide and homicide," Sankar told Fox News Digital during Palantir’s American Builder Summit in July. "I’m less worried about what China specifically does and more concerned about data center bans and unfounded fears that limit our actual ability to drive wage growth for American workers."

He added: "So I think what really matters is having a strong narrative—not one told by any company, but by the people themselves. That way, we can be inspired, motivated, and united to seize this opportunity."

In February, Sankar wrote in a Fox News Digital op-ed that for the US to catch up with China, it must effectively use the tools it already has: American workers and artificial intelligence.

US Manufacturing Productivity Grows Only 0.4% Per Year

"AI development and deployment should prioritize American workers and American industries," he wrote at the time. "The goal isn't abstract efficiency, but concrete American prosperity."

"China's manufacturing productivity grows 6% annually, ours only 0.4%. If we don't invest in AI and automation, we lose. American workers equipped with AI superpowers will erode China's competitive advantage."

Sankar believes the US has made significant progress since that article was published.

"Yes, I feel like we’re advancing every day," Sankar told Fox News Digital. "I always love this example—a very small submarine parts manufacturer used to take two weeks to complete production planning. During that time, the production line was idle, producing no parts at all. After implementing AI, they compressed that time to under an hour."

Eliminating Waste Unlocks Productivity

"Now they have more parts to produce than they have manpower for. They previously operated two shifts, but now they’ve hired a third shift," he continued. "Not a single person on that third shift thinks, 'I got this job because of AI,' but that’s exactly what happened. In our fundamentally supply-constrained economy, simply eliminating unnecessary waste unlocks productivity. I believe every company is starting to engage and leverage this advantage."

In late July, Palantir hosted the American Builder Summit, which specially recognized the achievements of graduates from the American Tech Fellowship. These alumni shared their experiences and demonstrated how they’ve used AI to enhance their professional skills and advance their respective industries.

Editor-in-Chief: Hsu Yung-hsiang

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