Jeff Burnstein, President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), reveals why eight countries have national robotics strategies while America doesn't—and what four decades of industrial robot history teaches us about humanoid adoption.

In this interview from Humanoids Summit SV 2025, Jeff explains the critical role of safety standards in commercialization, why Japan's 1960s strategy created sustained leadership while China dominates today, and how A3 is reframing "robotics" as "embodied AI" to gain traction in Washington D.C.

Key Topics:

• Why national robotics strategies drive competitive advantage

• Safety standards: from 1986 industrial robots to 2025 humanoids

• Cultural barriers: Hollywood's Terminator vs. Japan's friendly robots

• Hospital robotics: the under-recognized opportunity beyond manufacturing

• Historical lessons: hype cycles, dark periods, and realistic timelines

• Data privacy and AI training data issues for home robots

About Jeff Burnstein:
Jeff is President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), leading the organization's standards development, industry advocacy, and policy work including the push for a National Robotics Strategy. A3 developed the first American national robot safety standard in 1986, which became the basis for international ISO standards. With four decades in the robotics industry, Jeff witnessed the first industrial robot revolution and brings essential perspective on adoption cycles and commercialization barriers.

Resources:
Association for Advancing Automation (A3): https://www.automate.org

World Robot Conference (Beijing): https://www.worldrobotconference.com

This interview is co-released by Turn the Lens and Humanoids Summit. Humanoids Summit is organized and hosted by ALM Ventures.

Recorded at the Humanoids Summit SV 2025, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California.

For more on Humanoids Summit, including May 2026 in Tokyo visit https://humanoidssummit.com/

For more from Humanoids Summit SV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRz7mBlytVs&list=PLJCOPK6OJb1CLbLLXmBCS9sQPTj3kyE-F

Jeff Burnstein: Robotics Imperative, Standards, National Strategy | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick Ep49

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