Insights

The robot fleet economy, read independently

Reliability, residual value, and deployment risk — sourced from primary documents and the China supply side, verified, and never for sale to suppliers.

• What does robots-as-a-service actually cost?

  The per-hour or per-pick rate is only the entry cost, not the total. What warehouse RaaS really costs, when leasing beats buying, and the contract terms the quoted rate doesn't show.

  2026-07-24

• How reliable are warehouse AMRs really?

  Independent uptime data for warehouse robots barely exists — the numbers you see are vendor-defined and not comparable. How to read AMR reliability claims, what actually causes downtime, and why it drives resale value.

  2026-07-24

• How Chinese is Tesla's Optimus, really?

  The '~70% China-sourced' figure is a Chinese-brokerage estimate, not a Tesla disclosure — and two flagship 'suppliers' have denied their reported orders. What's actually confirmed, where the dependency is real, and why it's the BOM that carries the risk, not the badge.

  2026-07-24

• Can US companies legally deploy Chinese robots? (Living tracker)

  What is actually restricted as of July 2026, what is only proposed, and what it means for deployment risk and residual value. Updated as the rules move.

  2026-07-24