Mark Cuban says US manufacturing can come back if the country catches up on robotics and stays ahead on AI
It’s really simple. Our Robots and AI vs their Robots and AI. If we can catch up on robotics/software , and can stay ahead on AI, there is zero reason manufacturing won’t come back, or initiate here. At Cost Plus Drugs, the only thing holding us back from making generic drugs cheaper in Dallas than we can buy from Asia, are the fees we have to pay.
Context
Cuban frames reshoring as a race between US and foreign robots and AI, and points to fees rather than labor as his drug company's main obstacle.
This is an opinion from Cuban, posted as a quote of Palmer Luckey. He gives no figures for the fees he mentions.
Deep dive
On October 18, Mark Cuban wrote that it is really simple: our robots and AI versus their robots and AI. He said that if the US can catch up on robotics and software and stay ahead on AI, there is zero reason manufacturing will not come back or start in the US.
He added that at Cost Plus Drugs, the only thing holding the company back from making generic drugs in Dallas more cheaply than it can buy them from Asia is the fees it has to pay. He did not say which fees he meant.
Cuban was quoting Palmer Luckey, the founder of the defense company Anduril, who wrote on October 17 that American made products are not impossible. Luckey said stories about iPhones costing $37,000 or laptops costing $100,000 are psyops, sometimes pushed by foreign adversaries but more commonly by American corporations that do not want the status quo upset.
Neither post cites data. Cuban's argument rests on the idea that automation narrows the labor cost gap with Asia, so that costs such as regulatory or other fees become the deciding factor. His view that the US needs to catch up on robotics implies he sees rivals ahead there, while he describes the US as ahead on AI.
The exchange comes as AI and robotics leaders, including Elon Musk with Tesla's Optimus robot, argue that robots will reshape where goods are made.
What to expect next
Watch whether Cuban spells out which fees hold back Cost Plus Drugs' manufacturing in Dallas, and whether the company expands domestic production of generics.
Also watch US policy on reshoring and robotics, including tariffs and incentives, and data on factory automation, which would test the claim that robots can make US manufacturing competitive. Rival views from economists on costs beyond labor, such as supply chains and materials, may follow.