▶ 0:17:57e e
▶ 0:18:30the committee will come to order good morning everyone the chairman recognizes himself for five minutes first of all I want to uh say happy birthday to one of our greatest presents not the greatest present we ever had Abraham Lincoln today's the 12th right yeah absolutely and then also we'll get this uh want to make sure I remember this uh one of my staffers has been with me uh about 10 years including the uh the internship
▶ 0:19:01uh he's made me a better member and he's he's worked really hard uh on health care but uh but also this committee this particular committee uh is signed to to uh me my staffer for this committee uh and I tell you what he's made me a better member and and I want to congratulate him for all his work his name is Jim excuse me Chris Jones uh and and he'll be going over to the other side
▶ 0:19:31uh but uh you know what not the Senate the and uh but but he deserves he deserves a lot of credit I think we've done a lot in this committee and uh I tell you what we have terrific staff uh but thank you very much Chris for all your hard work congratulations and God bless you all right so good morning everyone and welcome to the first
▶ 0:20:02committee uh the Commerce manufacturing and trade subcommittee hearing of the 119th Congress I'd like to express my sincere congratulations to my good friend the chair Mr Guthrie uh on his appointment to the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee the oldest standing legislative Committee in the house I don't care what ways and means says and and the best darn Comm Committee in Congress by far I also want to
▶ 0:20:33thank the the chair for putting his faith in me to lead this important subcommittee which has broad jurisdiction over a great many important matters this will be a busy Congress and I'm excited to lay the groundwork to accomplish a robust legislative agenda I I would be remiss if I didn't identify and welcome to this wonderful panel the new members of the Energy and Commerce Committee Mr bence
▶ 0:21:03from Oregon Miss Miss hon from Indiana we'll be working on Coosa together uh Mr Fry from South Carolina Miss Lee from the great state of Florida was a great friend of mine in gogators uh and Mr King from New Jersey Mr Evans from Colorado and Mr Goldman from Texas welcome welcome
▶ 0:21:33I also want to thank my very good friend uh Russ fure from the great state of Idaho well he'll be serving as my vice chair he's going to do an outstanding job so it's either Gus or Russ that's what he says so and finally it is good to be sitting next to my good friend Miss chowski from Illinois I'm greatly looking forward to working with you again and all the members on this subcommittee now on to the
▶ 0:22:04business at hand I'm excited to kick this Congress off with an educational hearing examining the state of American manufacturing and how it can be revolutionized with the use of artificial intelligence we know generative AI is currently dominating the headlines for its specific use case of AI such as how deep sea seek is capturing warranted attention with their collection of Americans
▶ 0:22:34personal data and subsequently sharing it with the Chinese Communist party but I think we must remember that generative Ai and of course uh you know has some some positive aspects there's no question but generative AI is only specific use case of this technology and ai's applications are much broader than what has claimed the spotlight recently we have seen how AI applied the
▶ 0:23:04vehicles is to Vehicles is Paving the way for the next generation of vehicles that will drive themselves I tell you what it's very very exciting particularly with someone with disabilities such as myself these autonomous vehicles promise to greatly improve Auto Safety which is the most important thing and Prov provide vast Mobility benefits to every American including those with disabilities
▶ 0:23:35we have also seen how the technology holds the power to completely revolutionize American manufacturing and bolster our supply chain by integrating Ai and machine learning into supply chain systems we can better predict constraints and find potential weak points which can be used to prevent shocks that disrupt entire Industries our committee has led on supply chain mapping
▶ 0:24:05and monitoring legislation before and empowering companies to deploy emerging Technologies like AI to better understand our supply chains it it could help us protect against the next pandemic or the next major labor shortage and that's huge we need to send that uh legisl and I know representative bushan Dr bushan had it last session but he's
▶ 0:24:35he's no longer on the committee unfortunately but he'll be helping us uh but uh anyway we might have send it to the president's test as soon as possible so we can begin work uh on the on making resilient Industries can also utilize the power of AI and our manufacturing ecosystems to fund to find where redundancies exist and reduce waste in the developmental pipeline
▶ 0:25:06to bring this country back to the Forefront of what made it great we need to reduce unnecessary waste and optimize our capabilities we know the American people are the most Innovative in the world our job here in Congress will be to provide a pathway for these innovators to succeed this is exciting stuff folks America's Global Leadership in the 21st century will be contingent on our ability
▶ 0:25:36to promote emerging Technologies and establishing a pathway to unleash them throughout American manufacturing we have a great panel of witnesses today to share examples of how AI is actively being used in manufacturing and Supply chains I want to thank them for being here today particularly with this bad weather thanks for coming in I think uh the chairman did a great job uh in giving us an extra hour to get here so we appreciate that
▶ 0:26:07very much I didn't run Greek time today because I had to I had that extra hour so in any case I I yield back and I'm GNA before I yield back though I want to recognize my good friend the ranking member m chowski for five minutes for her opening statement you're recognized
▶ 0:26:37thank you so much Mr chairman and I just want to uh really welcome you back I'm wearing my Valentine's Day oh wonderful you for for you yeah um appreciate that and uh I I I just wanted uh to say that we have been uh working on this committee for 12 years we have really been Partners here and I want to
▶ 0:27:07say just at the beginning we have a lot of wonderful things that we have done for consumers we have made life better for many children by protecting uh protecting them and uh you know we had we almost made it to the ticket act and so there are still still things that are left uh undone that we that we want to do and I know that we want to work on on them
▶ 0:27:37um together um so we are uh focusing today on um the um we're focusing on AI and we're focusing on manufacturing and and um this is all very important let me just say that we saw under the Pres under President Biden
▶ 0:28:08that we after many years of Outsourcing um we saw a focus on uh providing um wonderful things for uh in in in the United States and a lot more more building of things and doing of things here um but you know we have a long we have a long way to go to make sure that all
▶ 0:28:38the manufacturing is brought to the United States of America um and I I wanted to um talk a little bit about AI you know we have not done in this subcommittee a lot lot of work on holding Tech accountable and we made it we made it partway um to do
▶ 0:29:08PRI to protect privacy we have talked a lot about caring for children and protecting their privacy but actually when it comes to the dramatic improvements or increases you would say um for uh tech companies we really haven't done enough to count on them and what's really important I believe is that the uh
▶ 0:29:38the tech companies right now have had a free reign from the beginning and we have done so little to really make sure that consumers are considered all the time on what these um tech companies are are able to to to do and I think we still are at the place that people feel that their private most private information their CH children's
▶ 0:30:09information is uh is not um rained in and I think it's time for us to take a look at what big Tech is doing and if there are things that we might want to change and uh and and take them under under control um so AI I think what we have to make sure is that um AI which will certainly
▶ 0:30:39increase the volume of uh um work that we do that we're able to um bring about uh in manufacturing but what I am concerned about is that ordinary workers are also going to be considered when we talk about Ai and that um they are um not going to be
▶ 0:31:10because there's going to be a lot more manufacturing that is done with I AI but what's going to happen to Everyday Americans so I think that has to be part of the uh consideration I also just want to say um that um I am concerned um uh about the Consumer Financial uh what is it what Protection Bureau Protection
▶ 0:31:41Bureau um and I and I know that I'm I'm out of time but I'm very disappointed that that agency which protected consumers did a great job 20 M 20 billion dollar return to Consumers because of what they do so we need to do more of consumer protection and I hope we will and with that I yield back thank you I thank the G lady and now
▶ 0:32:11I'll recognize the chairman of the full committee uh my good friend from the state of Kentucky the great state of Kentucky Mr Guri you're recognized for five minutes for an opening statement thank you Mr chair and as uh my friend the ranking member from Evanson Illinois may have on her car Land of Lincoln February 12th in 1809 he was born in Hodgenville Kentucky and the great Commonwealth of Kentucky so uh lived there until he was a young boy so we're you can come visit national park has a great service there so thanks it's important to be here today and I want to say
▶ 0:32:41that my path to the middle class as a as a family my family's path is right through the factory floor my dad worked for a big Automotive Foundry and and uh worked his way into management from the union floor to into management and then when I was in high school they announced that we're getting out of The Foundry business and close The Foundry so I saw the disruption that happens uh when that happens I saw my dad being he moved up into management kind of came the leader of saving the plant so we were kind of our
▶ 0:33:11our kitchen table where the where people gathered to try to how are we going to try to keep the plant open and I saw grown men that had coached me in Lally crying because they didn't know how they're going to feed their family so things can are disruptive and what we have to remember is that when people well I'll never forget this laston when people in Authority make decisions it does affect real people and what my friend the ranking member talked about and we have to factor that in I like to say what we do in the people's house affects people in their homes so we have to be mindful
▶ 0:33:41but having said that we know that we have to be more productive and continue to be more productive and AI gives us the opportunity to be more productive we have to outpace our our our competitors in particularly in Asia and China and AI gives us a great opportunity to do so so and we got to we just have to remember that we have to improve the fundamental skills of the people that work in our in our in manufacturing so they can take advantage of AI to become more productive um it
▶ 0:34:12as as AI gets more involved in the manufacturing process people who know how to how to program it people who know how to fix it repair it and do all the things make far more money than people who just operate and that's what we need to focus on and I think it will lift everybody a more productive Society is is more beneficial for everyone so we need to look in in focusing on that and I do believe by utilizing AI that us can return to its rich rich history of Global Leadership and and Manufacturing
▶ 0:34:42so I appreciate this hearing this is a subcommittee that has dear to me since I I worked in after my dad started after the plant clothes started his own business and I worked with my brothers and some of the men who uh had coached M Little League who moved to Kentucky to work together and build a successful Foundry so uh this is dear and dear to my heart because I know that it is the pathway for a lot of families to the middle of the middle class and I will yield the remainder of my time to the vice chair Mr fulker from in Idaho thank you Mr chairman and uh
▶ 0:35:12thank you to you and to the subcommittee chair for the honor to serve here uh it is truly an honor and I'm thankful for that we were talking about uh President Lincoln and most people don't realize there's also connection to Idaho with president with uh president Lincoln it was Abraham Lincoln who established the Idaho territory in 1863 and that was the precursor to our statehood in 1890 so there's a there's a honored connection there uh Mr chairman manufacturing
▶ 0:35:42is at the core of our economy it contributes to more applications is more sophisticated and operates in a highly competitive environment with countries like China China's manufacturing value ad and contribution to Global GDP continues to to outpace the United States and China produces more Goods in the US in nine of the top 11 manufacturing Industries but the US can outcompete and outperform China or any other country if we fully utilize our Technologies resources and Personnel
▶ 0:36:13for example in my home state of Idaho Global Food manufacturers locate there because our of our agricultural resources and we have other manufacturers fulfilling contracts on major weapon systems like the F-35 aircraft we have major semiconductor producers developing chips for the next generation of mobile logic and Industrial Computing needs but in all these cases innovation in production identification of defects ordering parts for machines before they fail helping workers improve safety and productivity
▶ 0:36:44are all crucial speaking for myself and I think for most of your other colleagues here we need to learn how AI can help improve the production process empowering the line worker to catch defects innovate proc processes and improve safety we need to know how AI can help predict machine failures better to prevent production interruptions we need to understand how to provide for data sharing for these needs while ensuring privacy among our end users and finally we need to find ways for
▶ 0:37:14the federal government to properly optimize its position to enable manufacturers to recruit train and res skill new and existing people that's our challenge but it needs to be in the appropriate fashion thank you I you back I thank the vice chairman I look forward to working with you sir uh next week have the uh the ranking member of the fa committee Mr palone good friend of mine uh from the great state of New Jersey you
▶ 0:37:44recognized for five minutes for your opening statement sir thank you Mr chairman I want to thank the witnesses for taking the time to testify this morning but to the Republican majority I want to express extreme frustration that are not addressing the fact that the Trump Administration has given billionaire Elon Musk and his young Anonymous henchmen unfettered access to government systems containing vast amounts of incredibly sensitive personal data about all Americans musk and his team have access to all
▶ 0:38:14the data at the Department of Health and Human Services and the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services and that means that they can access and may be able to delete modify and transfer for their own purposes detailed healthc care information about tens of millions of Americans including virtually all of our nation seniors and they also have access to Treasury Department data that includes Social Security numbers tax returns payment information all tied to names addresses phone numbers and email addresses
▶ 0:38:45and for decades we've had strong privacy and data protection laws in place that govern access to these government records to protect Americans privacy and the security of their personal information but with the full support of of President Trump and House Republicans musk and his minions have ignored those protections and civil servants attempting to protect America's data from us unauthorized access have been fired if a foreign adversary or a domestic hacking group got access to any one of these government systems containing
▶ 0:39:15American sensitive personal information we would consider it a major data breach a privacy disaster and a consequential national security incident and State's Attorney General's public interest organ organizations and the courts are doing their part to put a stop to the Trump administration's decision to hand over Americans most sensitive data to the richest man in the world and his cronies but Congress and the subcommittee in particular should be using all of the tools at our disposal to protect Americans privacy
▶ 0:39:45unfortunately instead of expressing outrage or holding hearings and demanding accountability from us stealing Americans personal information my Republican colleagues have chosen silence and so I urge my rep Republican colleagues to raise their voices to protect Americans personal health and financial data and all of the other sensitive personal data that is now in the hands of Elon Musk and his henchman now turning to today's hearing Mr chairman a strong and technologically advanced manufacturing base creates a healthy economy
▶ 0:40:16that uplifts hardworking middle americ middle class Americans lowers the cost of American made goods and bolsters our national security and promotes global leadership and yet in just the first few few weeks of the Trump Administration Republicans have turned their back on American families by attempting to illegally seal resources being put to work to grow and modernize the manufacturing sector the chips and science Act made a transformative $ 52 billion investment to develop the advanced infrastructure and Workforce needed
▶ 0:40:46to build critical semiconductors here in America and this will reduce the cost of americanmade semiconductors and in our dangerous dependence on fign manufacturers the inflation reduction act recharged our domestic energy sector by providing $369 billion to lower energy bills for American families and grow our economy so we can lead the global clean energy transition and Republicans say they want to Foster Innovation and beat China support American workers and lower costs yet they are choosing
▶ 0:41:16to look the other way as president Trump steals money from the American people businesses and communities American companies are being put at a disadvantage by President Trump's constant chaos it's simply not realistic to expect American manufacturers especially small and medium-sized companies to confidently make investments in their future when they're at risk of having to confront a senseless trade war or having Federal funding they rely on illegally Stripped Away this is not a recipe for success in
▶ 0:41:47my opinion if Republicans are actually interested in securing American leadership in manufacturing and the next generation of Technologies they should work with us to defend the programs that that are bolstering American manufacturing and the dedicated civil servants who work tirelessly to implement them so it's time for Republicans to stand up to the senseless Trump chaos that threatens American workers and small businesses and our economy and with that Mr chairman I yield back thank you well I guess I thank
▶ 0:42:17the gentleman thank you very much the honeymoon is over uh but I will say this I think uh respectfully because he's a great guy and a good friend I think the president's doing exactly what he said he was going to do uh and so far so good so anyway let's get on to it uh our Witnesses today are Mr Jason oxman a president and CEO of Information Technology
▶ 0:42:47Industry Council uh and we have Dr Elizabeth B Raymond uh excuse me Reynolds uh the pro professor of practice at MIT uh and then we have Mr Jeff Kinder Executive Vice President uh product development and Manufacturing Solutions Autodesk uh Miss Barbara humpton the president and CEO of seaman Corporation I want to welcome all of you
▶ 0:43:18and uh thank you very much for your patience this morning uh and this is going to be a great hearing we're going to learn so much so uh I want to recognize Mr oxman uh you recognize sir for five minutes please thank you chairman Bill rockson ranking member schakowski it's an honor to be here with you at the first hearing of 119th of this subcommittee I'm Jason oxman president and CEO of the information technology Industry Council or ITI thank you for inviting me to testify today
▶ 0:43:48in a period of remarkable and dynamic change in the US economy and in global competition for artificial technology is key to our nation's continued growth and Manufacturing is the economic lifeblood of the communities that this subcommittee's members represent and Manufacturing increasingly is powered by artificial intelligence AI as with all technology requires digital Innovation but it also requires Hardware
▶ 0:44:19networks infrastructure energy in other words AI requires manufacturing Innovation as the trade Association of the technology industry ITI represents the entire AI ecosystem including Seamans here today and other Global innovators that are investing in AI to drive manufacturing and to solve industry's biggest challenges indeed ITI as a trade Association in its 109e history has represented the largest manufacturers in the world
▶ 0:44:50now today I member companies manufacture and build the digital infrastructure that powers the AI economy including AI models and software semiconductors networking equipment and servers cooling systems infostructure power data centers and much more now for the manufacturing sector AI means increased efficiency productivity safety and Innovation for example AI in manufacturing today includes predictive maintenance
▶ 0:45:20where AI can analyze in real time using sensor data the manufacturing equipment that may need predictive maintenance and also analyze predictive equipment failure Supply Chain management where AI can optimize operations by analyzing data from multiple sources including demand forecasts inventory levels and logistical constraints and digital twinning an AI powerered digital representation of physical assets or a process that can
▶ 0:45:50allow virtual planning in advance of actual manufacturing now these Innovations and Investments among others will greatly benefit the manufacturing sector and the US in maintaining its Competitive Edge we appreciate that this committee is focused on harnessing us opportunities for investment in AI to the benefit of the US economy and job creation and we also appreciate that the new Trump Administration is focused on advancing us AI leadership internationally as the vice president
▶ 0:46:20just returns from the Paris AI Summit now reaching these clear goals will require close collaboration between the private sector and government and I'd like to offer the committee five specific recommendations on areas where we can ensure a bright future for AI Manufacturing in the US first create an enabling environment for Innovation to allow manufacturers to realize the full benefits of AI through competitive tax measures such as the advanced manufacturing
▶ 0:46:51investment credit and restoring the immediate deduction of R&D expenses second accelerate the adoption of AI and Manufacturing by developing a skilled AI Workforce that can leverage these new capabilities and create new jobs third maintain a data policy environment that enables private sector Innovation by increasing access to Federal data sets by unlocking the data necessary to create new AI solutions for manufacturers fourth continue
▶ 0:47:21Pro public and private Partnerships that spur private sector investment and AI manufacturing such as supply chain security through the promoting resilient Supply chains act a bipartisan bill that originated in this subcommittee and fifth remove barriers to us manufacturers ability to compete in global markets by advancing digital trade agreements and by revisiting hastily drafted policies from the prior Administration like the AI diffusion
▶ 0:47:53rule we see increasing Global competition for AI development and deployment for America to win we must get these policies right we are Keen to work with you to unleash the power of AI to expand domestic manufacturing to ensure that the United States Builds on its competitive lead in Ai and enable AI to transform all sectors of the economy and generate economic growth and job opportunities that benefit manufacturers workers
▶ 0:48:23and consumers thank you again for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward to your questions thank you very much now we'll recognize Dr Reynolds uh you're recognized for five minutes and we appreciate you being here sorry good morning and thank you chairman billus ranking member shikovski chairman Guthrie ranking member palone and members of the subcomittee it is an honor to be here with you this morning
▶ 0:48:53and speak about a topic that is of the utmost importance to the country's National and economic security my name is Elizabeth Reynolds I'm a professor of the practice at MIT and former Special Assistant to the president for manufacturing and economic development in the National Economic Council in 2021 and 2022 I'm also uh originally from Manchester New Hampshire Home of the amamos Mills the largest textile mills in the world at one point and now the center of uh Global Research on regenerative medicine rebuilding the
▶ 0:49:23US industrial base using Ai and advanced Manufacturing Technologies is an urgent priority we are in the midst of the next Industrial Revolution one where the US has the opportunity to catch up and rebuild its manufacturing capacity and capabilities the US has made significant gra gains in the past few years in rebuilding these capabilities as a result of largely bipartisan government investments in areas critical to the country's industrial base semiconductors critical minerals defense and energy infrastructure recent legislation
▶ 0:49:53has led to several positive developments a tripling of manufacturing construction spending since 2021 450 billion of private sector investments in semiconductor production across over 40 facilities over $80 billion of private sector investment in clean energy related production across over 200 manufacturing facilities including over 500 Bill five billion invested in each of Georgia Michigan Tennessee North Carolina and Ohio these energy investments in particular are essential to ensuring energy security
▶ 0:50:23particularly when the rise of AI and data centers will only increase energy demand The Leverage of these public dollars is significant roughly between four to seven private dollars invested for every Federal dollar spent as the all of these steps underscore there is important role for the government to play in catalyzing economic growth prosperity and Innovation I'm my written testimony has a complete list of my recommendations but I'm going to focus on several areas right now first we need to focus on increasing
▶ 0:50:54adoption of new technology by small and mediumsized Enterprises smmes to increase productivity and wages us manufacturers are behind in technology adoption many smmes the backbone of our industrial base are hesitant to change existing manufacturing processes despite the return on investment associated with digital technologies that can increase both productivity and wages several steps could be taken to encourage adoption of AI and advanced manufacturing including providing Federal matching funds to State Le programs that offer incentives
▶ 0:51:24like programs in Indiana Massachusetts and Michigan incenting large manufacturers that have contracts with the federal government to support AI adoption and dig digitalization in their suppliers and modernizing the manufacturing extension partnership to work with smmes to focus on promoting lean principles while also supporting digitalization two we need to increase investment in manufacturing Workforce training and education it is estimated the us could face a shortage of nearly 2 million manufacturing workers by 2033 we must both upskill current workers
▶ 0:51:54with digital skills as well as attract New Generation into the sector AI can play a positive role in this process by augmenting the skills of Frontline manufacturing workers and democratizing the technology so workers are part of continuous Improvement the process can lead to improving manufacturing wages which today on average are less than the average all industry hourly wages for non-supervisory workers several steps also can be taken here including creating robust pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs identifying the most successful training programs in the
▶ 0:52:25country and encouraging four-year institutions of higher education to partner with community colleges to advance digital skills and increasing the number of women working in manufacturing Who currently represent about 30% of the working for manufacturing Workforce three we need to accelerate Innovation and scaleup the US is the Envy of the world in and is renowned as the startup Nation but we must now become the scaleup nation because of their often large cap capital requirements and longer time Horizons manufacturing startups have challenges attracting
▶ 0:52:55growth capital from investors who prefer asset light Investments we must develop financing models that are helping with the missing middle capital capital gaps this could include Federal procurement such as advanced Market commitments providing tax incentives for startups that are building their first manufacturing facility exploring the role of a federal industrial Finance Corporation that could operate like the development Finance Corporation and expanding the role of manufacturing USA institutes fourth we must invest in the research and development and
▶ 0:53:25deployment of advanced Manufacturing Technologies historically US Federal R&D institutions have underinvested in advanced manufacturing processes additional Rd and D funding is required in emerging Advanced Manufacturing Technologies to help the us stay ahead in such areas as biomanufacturing Quantum energy defense critical minerals Robotics and additive manufacturing through investments in scientific and Engineering breakthroughs the US can LeapFrog current standard manufacturing processes and lead the world in
▶ 0:53:56advanc Manufacturing in conclusion I'll thank the uh the committee for the opportunity to speak and I hope that my remarks have underscored the importance of us Advanced manufacturing agenda to the country and the urgency with which we must address these issues thank you thank you Doctor appreciate it very much now uh Mr Kinder you're recognized for five minutes for your uh for your statement thank you chairman bckas ranking member schakowski for holding a hearing on this important timely topic
▶ 0:54:26and inviting me to testify today my name is Jeff Kinder and I oversee design and Manufacturing at Autodesk Autodesk is an American company with design and make software spanning product design and Manufacturing architecture engineering and construction and media and entertainment I'm also proud to have grown up in Indiana the state where President Lincoln by the way spent his formative years uh I grew up in a family of factory workers I studied Engineering in College
▶ 0:54:56on an Roc scholarship and then became an officer in the US Navy following my service I went on to lead digital Transformations uh for several companies this is a dynamic time in the manufacturing industry we've faced supply chain disruptions skilled labor shortages inflation and a changing geopolitical and economic landscape yet the demand for products isn't slowing down Autodesk believes the US is poised for growth in
▶ 0:55:27manufacturing reshoring initiatives and a reimagining of Supply chains have led to a surge in new starts but the manufacturing industry has a capacity challenge to meet this opportunity to increase our capacity to innovate and to compete on a global scale we need new technologies such as AI manufacturers are ready and it's in our national interest to help them and while cuttingedge technologies have historically Advantage larger
▶ 0:55:57manufacturers we are democratizing access by offering manufacturers of all sizes the same Advanced capabilities at a fraction of the cost We Believe empowering small and medium-sized manufacturers with technology like AI is key to unleashing a Renaissance in manufacturing Autodesk began investing in AI research more than 10 years ago we are the world's leading publisher of peer-reviewed original research on AI model trained for computer rated
▶ 0:56:28design and we're focused on developing pragmatic AI capabilities that help product designers and manufacturers do their work more productively we have three primary areas of focus with AI first augmenting exploration take for example our work with Stuart hos racing team using AI enabled design Stewart hos were able to reduce the weight in the brake pedal of Cole kuster's number 41 Mustang resulting in
▶ 0:56:58a reduction of a pedal that was 32% lighter and 50% stiffer reducing weight without sacrificing safety our secondary of focus is reducing repetitive and tedious tasks manufacturers design products in 3D but they still need to translate those to 2D documentation skilled Engineers spend as much as 40% of their time doing this manually now with a click of a button Autodesk AI creates those 2D drawings automatically
▶ 0:57:29freeing up time for more creative and more productive work our third area of focus is accelerating time to production computer numerical control or CNC machines are automated manufacturing machines that perform precise and complex operations programming code for these machines can take hours or even Days by using AI to generate Machining strategies we save manufacturers hundreds of production hours a year Autodesk is also
▶ 0:57:59dedicated to equipping Educators students and workers with the tools and curricula they need to learn the manufacturing skills of the future we provide free access to most of aes's portfolio professional software we also partner with institutions like the University of Florida where we are establishing the world's first ever industrialized construction program bringing manufacturing methods to construction my testimony offers recommendations for the committee to consider on how to
▶ 0:58:29Foster Ai and Manufacturing this includes bringing together tech companies and manufacturers to develop national strategies that elevate the importance of AI and Manufacturing providing tax credits and access to lowcost Capital to small and mediumsized manufacturers and digital skills training for the manufacturing Workforce we have a tremendous opportunity to realize our Collective mission to revitalize American manufacturing embracing AI will
▶ 0:59:00increase Innovation and productivity strengthen the competitiveness of American manufacturing and fuel long-term economic growth and prosperity Autodesk is eager to help you find realize this Vision thank you and I look forward to answering your questions thank you so very much now uh I'll recognize Miss hton uh you're recognized for five minutes for your statement chairman Guthrie and Bill rockus ranking members palone and schakowski
▶ 0:59:31and to all of the members of the committee thank you for the invitation to be here I serve as president and CEO of seaman USA Seamans is a leading technology company pioneering a new industrial Tech sector we were founded during Abraham Lincoln's lifetime I will note and have been building our American Business for more than 160 years today the US is our largest market we have more than 45,000 people and 12,000 suppliers Nationwide
▶ 1:00:02in recent years we've invested more than $650 million expanding our own us manufacturing plants since 2007 seamons has invested 10 billion in US software companies to strengthen our our digital capabilities and we recently acquired michigan-based alair engineering adding another 10 billion of investment in us software we did this to make American industry more state-of-the-art and
▶ 1:00:32competitive we did this to help regrow domestic manufacturing which brings us to today Seamans is a world leader in industrial AI this is different than consumer AI industrial AI uses controlled data from the manufacturing environment to help manufacturers create business value think better products more efficient operations a more prepared Workforce think about a safer automotive industry
▶ 1:01:02using industrial AI Seaman built a predictive maintenance model for a major Automotive OEM instead of manually analyzing data from 10,000 machines the company uses AI to help workers detect machine failures up to six months in advance or what about a more Innovative Aerospace industry consider startup jet zero with our AI enabled software jet zero is using real-time data and virtual simulations to design the next
▶ 1:01:33generation of ultra efficient commercial aircraft and when their first factory opens Seaman's industrial AI will optimize their operations electrifying and automating the manufacturing process this is just the beginning industrial AI is transforming construction for commercial and residential buildings it's addressing National energ challenges by managing electricity use in data centers it's improving Energy Efficiency in semiconductor factories to
▶ 1:02:03help expand American chip production now of course technological leaps like this raise questions for workers will technology replace people no industrial AI expands what's humanly possible it will create more opportunities for workers at all stages of their career care this is even more true with the introduction of generative AI gen is making Technologies
▶ 1:02:33more intuitive letting workers speak to machines using natural language instead of code Seamans has led the industry in this area deploying the first gen powered assistant we call it an industrial co-pilot what it does is improve worker productivity by managing repetitive tasks it helps people start manufacturing careers with without specialized skills we're going to need this to help fill more of America's 500,000 open positions
▶ 1:03:03in manufacturing we continue to encourage government to guide AI development in a way that balances Innovation and safety like this committee at Seamans we recognize the advantage that industrial AI leadership will bring to American manufacturing industrial AI will enable all companies from startups to small and medium ENT Rises to Industrial Giants to thrive in this new era of American manufacturing I'll finish with a quick example of
▶ 1:03:34how industrial AI is supercharging the growth of us Manufacturing in three weeks Seaman will celebrate the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Fort Worth Texas to build the factory we used industrial AI to develop a digital twin of the Factory's product as well its lines to staff the facility we created 480 new jobs with another 320 to come next year to train workers we recruited
▶ 1:04:04former High School teachers to develop a program for people with no manufacturing experience and when the Phil when that facility starts operations excuse me it will produce the electrical components that power American data centers the very Foundation of AI Fort Worth shows what indust industrial AI can do for us manufacturing with these Technologies we can boost economic growth create jobs Empower Innovation
▶ 1:04:34and secure the next generation of American industrial leadership thank you and I look forward to your questions thank you very much very informative uh I thank all of you for your testimony and now I recognize myself uh for five minutes for questioning so we'll start with um Miss AI has already out enveloped itself into the manufacturing ecosystem and is creating more efficient systems
▶ 1:05:04to build here in America we need to do more to encourage this type of growth here at home as I mentioned in my opening statement Ai and its applications are incredibly Broad and can't let the generative AI Control how the world sees AI in its entirety so I I'm glad you gave that example though that that's good uh what is important to view Ai and Manufacturing in a different
▶ 1:05:34lens than AI Mr chairman thank you for the question and Industrial AI is really quite different from consumer AI let's think first about the data that is used in generative AI in a in the consumer applications we've seen the use of large swats of data from many many sources in a manufacturing environment what we're typically doing is gathering data from multiple sensors
▶ 1:06:04in a very controlled environment in fact so controlled that many manufacturers don't want that data shared with anyone this is a competitive Advantage they have being able to own and manage their own data that's why they trust a company like ours they trust Seamans to build the AI tools that will operate in a secure environment using what we've learned over decades with machine learning with deep Network neural networks to be able to take advantage
▶ 1:06:34of that data and draw conclusions that would literally be impossible for any one of us to do if we were standing on that floor I mentioned the automotive manufacturer imagine the question of how do we assure the quality of doors as they're coming off a production line well it's really difficult to do with the human eye but with a sensor with a sensor and machine learning we're able to Define perfect what does perfect look like and then compare every door
▶ 1:07:05that's produced to that standard identifying defects earlier and taking action to correct the manufacturing process the difference with industrial AI is the data it operates on the environment in which it's used and the tools that are Applied Trust will be the foundation of our future work in this area thank you very much excellent uh Mr oxman the National Association of uh manufacturers found that
▶ 1:07:35after deploying AI in their manufacturing operations 72% reported reduced costs improved operational efficiency 51% reported improved operational visibility and responsiveness and 41% reported improved process optimization and control control these statistics show just how beneficial AI can be in the manufacturing sector can you provide examples of use
▶ 1:08:05cases that may be attributed uh to these statistics please thanks Mr chairman it is uh it is not surprising to hear those statistics that you cited about the importance of AI to manufacturers just to give one example from across the ITI membership Erikson one of our member companies that is the reason that we have the robust mobile networks that we have in the United States Ericson has a 5G smart Factory in Texas and what they've done with that smart Factory to your point about the importance of AI enabled manufacturing is they use Advanced
▶ 1:08:35analytics uh for machine learning uh and they do predictive maintenance as uh Miss hton was talking about they uh deploy autonomous uh robots to help with the manufacturing process particularly areas that be too dangerous uh for human beings they do process automation they do demand prediction so a huge number of what I'll call intelligent autom automation tools that are made possible by AI they don't replace humans uh but they take areas where human error could be dangerous
▶ 1:09:05or could be inefficient uh and they make humans better uh in their uh deployment and the stats are remarkable uh 120% Improvement in output per employee and a 65% per reduction in manual Material Handling at that Ericson USA 5G smart Factory in Texas thank you very much uh Mr Kinder uh whenever we talk about the greater adoption of sophisticated Technologies I think it is equally critical
▶ 1:09:35to talk about protecting these systems can you walk us through how Autodesk addresses this question of cyber security for AI manufacturing sure thank you for your question chairman cyber security is Paramount uh and as a company we this uh and we work continually to evolve our processes to mitigate any vulnerabilities our approach is uh and our chief trust officer is fond of saying
▶ 1:10:06this build secure run secure and stay secure and that's integral to uh engendering customer trust and what we mean is build secure is using secure methods in software development uh uh right from the beginning run secure is implementing security control roles across the platform like identity and access management encryption and stay secure is continually assessing the products for vulnerabilities uh and any compromises
▶ 1:10:36thank you very much and uh I'll I'll y back the rest of my time I don't have any left but in any case uh we'll have the ranking member here recognized for your questioning five minutes of questioning please thank you Mr chairman um I have uh two questions for you Dr Reynolds um one is yesterday I met with a manufacturing company but they also are engaged
▶ 1:11:06in getting young people more engaged in manufacturing so I asked them so how many of those students that are signing up and want to do this how many are women and they said well um there uh I know there's at least uh 133% or something it was a low number and you had mentioned trying to engage more women
▶ 1:11:36in manufacturing um I'm I'm just wondering if just the name manufacturing sounds like a guy and how can we get more certainly there's a lot of room for women what are you doing to in make that happen thank you very much for that question um and it's very important particularly given the shortage of workers we've just been talking about half a half a
▶ 1:12:06million currently and close to two million within 10 years we need to bring everybody into the manufacturing Workforce including women who represent about 30% of the workforce today underrepresented given that they're 46% of the uh total Workforce in the country so I think there a number of things that we could be doing uh what the one first point is to say that the kind of manufacturing we're talking about now with AI and Automation and all of the type developments we're talking about really
▶ 1:12:37should change the view of manufacturing in this country uh historically we think of it as dirty dull uh physically laborious that's completely gone now in the 21st century and I think that will be helpful in terms of attracting the Next Generation into into Manu facturing particularly also new technology this next generation is much more interested in working with Advanced Technologies than working with older Industrial Systems um right now
▶ 1:13:07we know that women who are working in manufacturing earn on average 16% more than the median income for women nationally so this is attractive from a from a wage point of view it may be less attractive from a flexibility point of view and that's one area that I think we could hopefully see manufacturers work toward attracting more women into the field is whether given given Child Care responsibilities Etc can we see more flexibility in the work week
▶ 1:13:37uh but we really need to get the Next Generation in particularly starting in high school I hope so um I wanted to also mention I'm concerned about manufacturing jobs and wondering how AI is going to fit into this is there some reason Reon to worry for everyday workers that their jobs will begin to disappear um because of AI it's
▶ 1:14:07different way to get the technology out so I think it's always um important to look at the impact of technology on work and on workers because we know that technology has had an effect on increasing inequality in this country and hollowing out a lot of our U middle class jobs because it replaces workers uh the important way to address that is when we use technology uh to enhance and augment workers
▶ 1:14:38how do we make the technology a tool for workers so that they themselves can benefit from its use U that has often been tracked by the level of Education uh that jobs have in the level of routine operations that we have in jobs the the important opportunity with AI is that while it may reduce uh waste and get rid of some of the automated work that uh that is quite um tedious it does have a chance to really augment the skills of our workers and
▶ 1:15:08particularly lower skilled lower educated workers who can use AI as described earlier as a co-pilot where it is actually helping guide uh workers who don't necessarily have the skills and this is the opportunity for digitalizing our Workforce and I think we have to look and work very hard to make sure that AI is the tool and provides the opportunity right now for bringing workers who have actually perhaps less education less skills into uh career paths and into
▶ 1:15:38uh promising well-paying jobs thank you for that because I think it's really important that we consider that not only really Highly Educated people um but the many people who are right now involved in AI in technology that there's going to be a place for them and not just for the most educated and the mo and turns out the wealthiest
▶ 1:16:09either so thank you and I back I thank the general lady now recognize the vice chair of the full committee uh chair uh actually Vice chairman fure thank you you recognize for five minutes thank you Mr chairman uh miss humpton most of my private sector life was in the semiconductor industry with Micron Technology and at the time I'm dating myself here but Seaman AG was a competitor in in uh the memory component dram business and so I know that's not
▶ 1:16:39your focus I'm not even sure that they're in that anymore because it was years ago but you were talking about uh your involvement with generative Ai and I've been out of this for a while and uh you mentioned about uh the potential to uh the use of these co-pilots and speaking to machines whatnot where is this going to go I mean is this is this um we talking about when you're speaking to machines is this like mirroring human interaction just talk
▶ 1:17:09a little bit more about this where is this going thank you so much Vice chairman and and I I want to first comment we did sell the semiconductor business it became infinion but today we have a fantastic Eda component so we're using exactly these Technologies to help semiconductor manufacturers work their design and and plan out their factories so it's an exciting time for the semiconductor industry but the question you ask really ties to the conversation
▶ 1:17:40we've just had about Workforce where is this going what I'm excited about is that for the first time we have a technology that actually comes to the people instead of forcing them to go to school learn more Etc and I'm going to tell you just my personal experience with this I went to a recent oh Tech show and my team was there showing what they're doing with industrial Ai and they said for instance the programming of robots for
▶ 1:18:10a factory floor they said this would typically be done by an individual who would get on a bicycle and Ride Along the floor because you had to go to each machine you had to know the programming language instead I stood in front of a laptop and texted in please sort the following items by size the computer generated the code and the Machinery was then commanded to to do the Sorting the team looked at me and said by the way U
▶ 1:18:40do you enjoy writing comments for the code that you have to write it's just one of it's drudgery and I said oh I hate that they said well press this button and five seconds later I had all of the commentary that was required to go with that code I'm telling you this is going to be such a cool era because yes we can bring young people in if you can play a video game you'll be able to is verbal interaction next verbal interaction is already here verbal interaction is already here I encourage anyone who'd like to visit us at
▶ 1:19:10the Handover Fair that's coming up next month uh will be demonstrating much of this technology right here right now so I I think we have the opportunity to see it and and and be able to Envision the future today thank you for that that Mr oxman um I didn't know the about the word reskilling until I was going through some of this testimony and I'd like to to flush out your thoughts on the reskilling component here we've got uh a lot of middleaged workers we've
▶ 1:19:40got older workers that change is always a challeng and and trying to recuit young people at the same time uh talk about recommendations for reskilling and understand that you're talking to to a congressional panel here so in the sense of talk about recommendations for reskilling and what might be the proper role of the government federal government in that effort it's a great question uh and uh I do think that the role of the Federal Government is to partner with industry to make sure that
▶ 1:20:10we are working on stem education and reskilling wherever it can benefit keep in mind we don't want to be where we are going to hinder but absolutely let let the let industry be industry but go ahead I'm sorry that no that's absolutely right uh you know for example in uh in Boise where ITI member uh company Applied Materials is uh is very active um they are working in partnership with locally local community colleges uh on reskilling to train the workforce that's necessary
▶ 1:20:41uh meta is currently investing in an $800 million data center uh in your District or adjacent to your District um and uh needs the workers for that data center so the kind of public private partnership I'm talking about is uh the government making sure that uh local educational institutions have the resources they need uh and the training programs they need and making sure that workers have the opportunities that they need to get the skills necessary to get the jobs of tomorrow as Miss humpton mentioned 500,000 open jobs in the technology industry
▶ 1:21:11we need to find those workers with the skills that they have um and uh fill those positions great thank you for that Mr chairman I do have a question for Mr Kinder on interoperability standards but I know I'm out of time so so um Mr Kinder briefly please it sounds like when you're talking about interoperability standards it sounds like uh you're talking about the sharing of data having the ability to adapt new technologies to improve productivity uh in in the overall manufacturing process
▶ 1:21:41do I read you correctly on that is that your intent with interoperability standards uh thank you for the question Vice chairman yes it is the interoperability of data as you heard in all of our testimony uh data is critical for training AI models with interoperability uh across different applications we'll have more data and it'll be smarter on how the whole system operates great thank you very much thank you Mr chairman yield gentleman yields back now recognize a general
▶ 1:22:11lady from the great state of Florida from the great City of Tampa thank you uh representative Caster who been uh we've worked on several issues together on this subcommittee enjoyed working with you thank you yeah thank you chairman bill rakus um it it has been a pleasure working with you congratulations on leading the subcommittee again uh thank you for recognizing Chris your Aid I'm sorry to see him go he was instrumental in helping us uh get uh out of the committee the kids online safety
▶ 1:22:42act and kids online privacy protection act um Unfortunately they didn't get across the Finish Line we're going to do it this year that's good to hear your on that top priority uh there were a number of things of the subcommittee that did not that were stripped out at the last minute at the end of the Congress and I hope we can get back to working on those expeditiously uh but I know we're gathered here today to talk about Ai and manufacturing and it just seems like it's vital that we continue to build on the success of
▶ 1:23:12the past few years and Dr Reynolds highlights a lot of the progress in her testimony she says the US has made significant strides in the past few years to rebuild these capabilities with largely bipartisan support support uh in semiconductors critical minerals defense and energy infrastructure and that the bipartisan infrastructure law the chinson science act the inflation reduction act has led to manufacturing construction spending having been tripled since 2021
▶ 1:23:42$450 billion do of private sector investment in semiconductor production over 40 facilities approximately 80 billion of private sector uh investment on in clean energy across 200 manufacturing facilities partic particularly batteries a crucial area for us uh leadership in future and um Investments going to all sorts of States um I wish there were more in Florida but a lot of are going into
▶ 1:24:13the battery belt in the midwest so that's so important to see because of the drain and jobs and offshoring of jobs over the past decades um but it does this hearing does seem like a big disconnect today because uh right at the outset of the new Trump Administration they threw a wrench into so much of the progress that we've been making they um illegally shut down loans and grants uh that you know I I focus a
▶ 1:24:43lot on the department of energy uh the the executive orders and the the halt on grants and Loans have thrown a lot of the manufacturing sector into chaos just yesterday I had a critical mineral uh developer in my office they do not they cannot get answers from the Department of energy because of uh the Halt and payments we've had a federal court say You must continue to disperse these monies so we're seeing layoffs um
▶ 1:25:13business Capital pulling back already so Dr Reynolds are you hearing these same stories here just over the past few weeks uh thank you for that question and for um raising what is a very concerning situation right now in the country as you said we've had significant investment looking at over a trillion dollars uh over over the next decade across physical uh infrastructure across our digital infrastructure if you will and with our energy infrastructure
▶ 1:25:44but these latest steps uh by the current Administration are very concerning I think first and foremost because what we have are contractual obligations uh with the backing of the federal government in many of these cases uh for funds that are expected to flow in many important projects right now there are approximately over 400 clean energy projects that have been announced uh they have not yet Broken Ground but those plans are in in motion and those
▶ 1:26:14companies have been banking on a lot of that funding that is supposed to be coming a lot of this is really about what we see today but I I think we have to also think about what is potentially lost uh if these Investments do not flow uh as they have been intended and also passed by Congress uh right now what some estimates are certainly recently by Johns Hopkins is that if the IRA pulls back on a lot of these Investments the what we're going to see is foreign companies
▶ 1:26:44foreign countries including China stepping in and that us companies uh and the us as a whole are at risk of losing approximately 50 billion um in annual lost exports Etc so the the stakes are enormous uh we've already got tremendous momentum and as you said a number many states across the country who are benefiting from these Investments communities in in benefiting as well as the workers so I hope that we're going to see uh
▶ 1:27:14some common ground and an understanding that really we need to maintain some order and uh and continue those Investments as we passed them in the past thank you I agree I think China is cheering this on any wrench that is thrown into building up our Advanced manufacturing and Ai and progress is is to the detriment of our people uh thank you iel back General lady Ys back now recognize my favorite pharmacist on the committee
▶ 1:27:45and nobody's going to kill me for this you're just anyway I'm telling the truth uh I recognize you for five minutes hey thank you Mr chairman and thank you to the witness for being here um I don't have an Abraham Lincoln story but Davey Crockett's from my district stop it stop it well let's just get back to the corrects of this uh miss humpton your company has a digital uh digital Industries design
▶ 1:28:15and testing facility in my district that employs 2002 tennesseans and my question to you is when you train your employees to use AI uh do you offer that training for advanced engineering staff or to all the employees uh thank you so much and and I'm G to tell you you actually have 219 in Johnson City Johnson City well dang I didn't want me correct the record U the yeah this business is growing and thriving and and we have made the AI training
▶ 1:28:46within the Seaman Corporation available to all we actually have a learning platform that uses AI so that an individual learner can come in uh give a little bit of information about where they are with their knowledge base and have recommendations made now we're going to take this one step further because what we recognize is that everyone needs to be able to learn these skills so we're working now on a project to make this training available on a platform publicly
▶ 1:29:16so that anyone who wants to get engaged would be able to understand the Technologies we're implementing at seens and and be able to get on that learning ladder themselves well that's fantastic um you talked about predictive maintenance and I thought that was very interesting where you could um it helps manufacturers identify machines that might break down six months ahead of time so uh can you give us a couple other examples for the committee where it shows this predictive maintenance and what role AI plays with that
▶ 1:29:46yes I'm happy to describe this this is really interesting I mean how do you know when something's going to break down it's a little bit like the the door example I gave before that uh to the human eye you may not notice a change in vibrations a change in the noise that's being made by machine I think we all know that in any business there are those savants the the experts who actually can smell it in the air when something is is wrong but we can't all be as smart as that individual what we're able
▶ 1:30:16to do with our predictive maintenance tools is use sensors of all kinds yeah sound sight smell ET Etc to give us those indicators of when something isn't performing as expected that alerts people in the loop to figure out is this something that we need to take action on now you'll always need a human component we absolutely do unless you come up with something on a okay thank you ma'am uh Mr oxman you spoke a little bit about the president's recent U
▶ 1:30:47executive order and that it will uh develop an AI action plan that will chart the course for the new industry so my question to you are what details do you think the administration should consider which would benefit Innovation and growth in American manufacturing we absolutely thank you uh congresswoman for that question we absolutely do appreciate president Trump's uh executive order on AI and particularly because he's focused on uh input from industry to make sure that the
▶ 1:31:17regulatory road map uh is appropriate for continued AI leadership in the United States so we're looking forward to providing that input uh the vice president as I mentioned was in Paris yesterday uh at the AI Summit and he noted that the regulatory environment is really going going to control who wins and so uh in this executive order our hope is the president uh uh advances a public private partnership that focuses on industry uh voluntary standards and
▶ 1:31:47uh not taking an overly regulatory approach as some other jurisdictions like Europe have done that has hindered their leadership on so I think we have a real opportunity here and we're we're grateful to the president continue to give him input um Kinder you know I'm a compounding pharmacist guus didn't tell you that but that's what I am and I understand how critical it is to strengthen the resilience of our domestic healthc care supply change and stop the dependence on uh foreign adversaries can you share with me how AI technology
▶ 1:32:17is used in healthcare manufacturing sir sure thank you for your question uh congresswoman um pharmaceutical companies use Autodesk software to build their factories to produce medicines and to produce the packaging that the medicines uh they come in um our tools help ensure that the entire supply chain stays connected optimized um I can give you an example one of our partners saved over $350 million annually by using a
▶ 1:32:47fully integrated digital twin model of their factories uh and these you know these twins help with with with Renovations with space and resource allocation and energy consumption okay I just have one other question in five seconds NASCAR okay well it's just a fun one NASCAR how in the heck did you get that lightweight break past the specs uh because I had Bristol Motor Speedway in my district and you got to go through a lot to to make sure they meet the specs so how did you
▶ 1:33:17get that through Tech is my question did you do that before or did you even do that do they even know about this work I don't think it's a secret okay just checking because he won the championship it did pass the weight test for the I'm just checking you know we got to keep it above board now okay thank you sir I'll you back Mr chairman all right very good uh I recognize my good friend Darren Soo from the great state of Florida you recognized for five minutes for your questioning
▶ 1:33:48thank you Mr chairman and congratulations on your new granddaughter we're so happy to see that amazing addition you know it wasn't that long ago we saw a chips shortage um because of the pandemic and it raised the prices of vehicles of appliances of computers and many Americans found out chips are in everything nowadays and so we came together to pass the chips act all the Democrats and some of the Republicans we appreciate their
▶ 1:34:18support on that and it's been a big help for Florida's n9th congressional district we're home to the biggest chips sa project in the state at Neo City uh near St Cloud and CMI and we just welcomed our next uh fabricator elpus which is going to be working on capacitors that work directly on lowering energy for AI technology we also saw the inflation reduction act be a huge help uh for Central Florida green garden B village where we're uh going
▶ 1:34:48to be making solar uh panels as well as EV charging stations we're going to see the largest solar plant in North America in South Oola County thanks to Florida Power and Light the largest fast charging station uh thanks to Tesla going to yeaw Junction in the South part of my district and the first used electric vehicle de dealership also by Tesla we've seen because of the chips act and because of the IRA Factory construction has surged
▶ 1:35:18and Manufacturing capacity is expanding both in Florida and Across the Nation many of you may be surprised to know that Florida is the second most electric vehicles of any state in the nation even though we're the third most popul state so just after California uh just another interesting example from the Sunshine State and so we're concerned that President Trump uh with his freeze order uh could stop some of these projects for going through whether it's the chips act or whether it is projects under the inflation
▶ 1:35:48reduction act and then what's this going to do it's going to raise costs and it's going to raise pollution and it's going to limit our competitiveness at a time when China and so many other countries are trying to advance these issues uh we just filed a letter today uh taking on President Trump's attempt to take back the national EV charging station uh infrastructure we see Across the Nation this is going to affect rural areas this is going to affect a lot of urban areas we need to make sure our
▶ 1:36:19big three remain competitive uh knowing that EVs and high are a big part of this future transition that we see and then I'm concerned about the reconciliation package that will attempt to gut these programs for more oil you know we're already at record production right now and so we need a balanced approach and all this is at the backdrop of an inflation report where we saw inflation is now at a six-month High tariffs deportations division
▶ 1:36:50chaos The Four Horsemen of trump flation that could get worse it doesn't have to be this way we could work together and this committee has a long history of doing that we need a balance approach where we continue with electric vehicle progress continue to work on the chips act keep oil production steady to keep gas prices affordable and have a transition over time uh Miss humpton thank you so much for being here we appreciate Seaman's great investment in Orlando in partnership with University
▶ 1:37:20of Central Florida focusing on uh Energy Systems sustainable energy solutions how critical is it for us to continue to be competitive in clean energy and to have Workforce Development programs to meet this demand thank you Congressman it is vitally important that we attend to the mega trends that have driven us for such a long time and in fact what's so exciting about where we are in this moment is that it is in fact the private sector
▶ 1:37:50who has stepped up to the plate of many statistics have been shared this morning about the level of investment first being made by the federal government as a down payment but but pouring the the private sector funds that have been pouring in our customers are demanding the kinds of technologies that we as a nation have been focused on these last few years what's exciting is that industrial AI can contribute to our progress overall you see the same technologies that
▶ 1:38:20help us address the goals that we've had under for sustainability Etc also make us more efficient they make our businesses more productive we really can have it all In This Moment by deploying technology to make American manufacturing cleaner smarter and more cost effective competitive on the world stage and we appreciate Seaman's contributions to this Factory Renaissance this manufacturing Renaissance that has been pushed
▶ 1:38:50onward because of the IRA chips act and many other private sector companies coming together thanks and I back gentleman yields back now I recognize a gentleman from California Mr oal for his five minutes of questioning well thank you Mr chairman uh congresswoman harsh barer recommended that I continue her line of questioning about NASCAR brake pedals but instead I'm going to focus on something else she was asking about uh Mr oxman uh you and she were talking about regulation
▶ 1:39:20and the executive branch and the president's executive orders uh could I follow on to that discussion with a question about what we in Congress should be doing to establish a regulatory environment that as you say encourages Innovation and the use of AI in the manufacturing space well thank you conman Alberti as the AI scientist on the panel you have been very focused uh uh in the last couple of years and uh legislative solutions that we have been proud to support ranging from the uh Center for
▶ 1:39:51AI advancement and reliability to the crate AI act and of course we're starting over in the 119th but um the work that you have been focused on encouraging public and private Partnerships I think is the shortest answer to your question that's where we really need to be focused um we need to be focused on how the government can partner with uh research institutions um not only on the reskilling issues that we've been talking about but organizations uh like the nare the national AI research uh resource uh that you've been very uh
▶ 1:40:21vocal and supportive and and we have as um that's the kind of public private partnership I think we need to be focused on not focusing on the regulations so much as how can government PRI and the private sector partner together to make these Investments a reality that's where I think the the focus really should be right well obviously completely agree with you about uh n and create Ai and uh the AI advancement and reliability Institute uh uh you know I think that those would be really vital public private Partnerships in that sense I I'm uh hopeful that you
▶ 1:40:51read our AI task force report and I'm wondering uh what do you think we got right and wrong in our approach to regulating uh the use of AI and Manufacturing yeah and congratulations to you and and uh Mr Lou your uh your co-chair in that effort uh on a remarkable uh task force initiative it was a I did read the report it was very long very comprehensive uh the things you got right in there I think were a focus on uh what the vice president talked about in Paris which was those jurisdictions that have taken a regulation
▶ 1:41:21first approach like Europe are now behind in the race to dominate uh globally I also really appreciated the focus on the competition that we Face internationally and how uh other countries are looking to lead the way and if we're not making the right kind of focused Investments and not ensuring that the regulatory environment is appropriate to investment uh we're going to fall behind we've got a lead now but that lead is by no means guaranteed uh to lead to future success I also appreciated your focus on uh training Workforce
▶ 1:41:51Development uh in the report uh and ways in which uh investment in those kind of initiatives can also uh lead to further uh us leadership in Ai and finally I think the focus of the report on encouraging uh Congress to uh hold hearings to better inform itself uh like this hearing today um about what's necessary uh for uh Congressional Solutions if any uh to the challenges that we face in in AI particularly
▶ 1:42:21in manufacturing I think that's important as well is there anything that uh we you think we should have focused more on I think if I had to pick one area um that uh more Focus could have been on uh it was uh it would be on uh how we can uh solve energy issues um I think you certainly touched on it in the report but I think we've seen just in recent months since the report came out that energy issues have become more prominent particularly for data center construction and I think we have an opportunity to uh look at this not only
▶ 1:42:52from the uh energy pathway uh side but also the regulatory side about permitting and uh the way in which energy is uh authorized for use uh for data centers for AI I think that's going to be a an issue for us leadership going forward and I think that's going to be an important issue for Congress to focus on as well I agree with you U Miss humpton I was very interested in the distinctions that you highlighted between industrial Ai and consumer Ai and I really hadn't done a lot of thinking about this but it certainly seems to me that
▶ 1:43:22the regulatory approach to those two technologies should be probably pretty different given the differences and how tightly curated the trading data is for industrial Ai and the more limited operating environment it's much more controlled so what what can you think uh what would you say would be the differences uh in our regulatory approach to those two technologies how is industrial AI different uh thank you Congressman as I mentioned earlier we really do need to look look at those key distinctions it's going to be very tempting
▶ 1:43:52for the public to take one big paintbrush and sweep all of this into the category of AI if we can be very clear on those definitions we can actually think through the qu the key questions of of trust and risk what what do we need to secure in order to maintain and build trust where do we see the risk areas we all know that consumer AI we are running dramatic risks across
▶ 1:44:22our entire Society but with industrial AI we have a very unique controlled environment I would be delighted for my team to further engage with you and and your staff as as you work forward i' welcome that well thanks to our Witnesses it's been a fascinating hearing iel back gentleman yields back now recognized representative Clark from the state of New York for your five minutes of questioning thank you very much Mr chairman and I thank our ranking member and good afternoon everyone and thank you to our Witnesses for being here
▶ 1:44:52to testify I know it may not have been easy to navigate through DC and this weather and uh political uncertainty I believe as many of my colleagues on this committee do that it is in our best interest to support the adoption of emerging Technologies like AI in the manufacturing sector and that we should make the critical Hardware that power AI tools like chips at home right here in the United States
▶ 1:45:22as is what unlike many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle I was proud to support President Biden and Democrats in passing the chips and science act a 53 billion investment in bringing semiconductor Supply chains back to the United States all over the country we have seen the benefits and successes of the chips act not only supporting manufacturing and Innovation at home but also with the creation of 115,000 jobs as of last summer
▶ 1:45:53my home state of New York has been a leader in semiconductor manufacturing industry and the benefits are showing thanks to chips and science act 34,000 New Yorkers are employed by semiconductor and supply chain companies the importance of supporting the domestic manufacturing of AI tools is undeniable and essential to our Workforce and economy and that's why I remain committed to supporting the implementation and dispersement of chips funding that uplifts the industry National
▶ 1:46:23Security and our Workforce while I'm disappointed and I'm not surprised to see the chaos of the current Administration giving way to an unstable business environment that undermines the progress that we have seen in the American Semiconductor manufacturing illegal freezes tariff threats undermine the work Democrats have done to modernize critical domestic manufacturing sectors Dr Reynolds can you speak to the steps Congress can take to support stability in the industry
▶ 1:46:54and further the progress we've already made thank you congresswoman for that question and for also underscoring the importance of the chips act and its impact already uh on the US economy and US competitiveness I I will mention as well that we now see that tsmc in Arizona is manufacturing uh for uh nanometer uh chips Frontier chips out of Arizona for the first time
▶ 1:47:24in American history and this is a very exciting time uh for building the semiconductor industry in the country and ensuring that we have Global competitiveness going forward and are not at the mercy of uh foreign adversaries and other countries in terms of how we take this word forward I think first and foremost as we've discussed is we want to see the obligations that have been made already followed through and supported over time so while perhaps perhaps uh these obligations
▶ 1:47:54have not been uh expended yet we know that we have important uh taxpayer uh interests involved in the payment of these uh of these uh chips act grants uh the importance of the tax incentives we want to make sure that all of these uh important parts of the legislation passed in the last few years are continue forward in the under the intention of Congress uh I think also that we're seeing as you said enormous amount
▶ 1:48:24of Mo momentum already at the state level whether that's in the chips act around the number of places around the country whether that's in the clean energy space whether that's in other areas of manufacturing uh it's very important for the federal government to be a partner in ensuring that those Investments continue and that those uh Partnerships help us in building out those Investments and those clusters of Excellence I think the importance of the US strategy under these under this legis was not just about
▶ 1:48:55a few uh projects here and there but creating critical mass and with that critical mass we develop globally competitive Industries and our goal of course is to uh not only develop the expertise and provide the quality jobs but to export and to become a world leader in many of these areas and we are on that path and through the creation of these new factories and Facilities using new technology that we've just discussed we are now in the in a position
▶ 1:49:25to really be leaders in areas that we have not been and where we've been lagging in the past so semiconductors EVS batteries all of these areas where now the US is really in a competitive position we may have lost in many ways on the generation on the first generation of Technology uh you know invented the technology here it went elsewhere uh but now we're in a different position now we're in a place where the US can actually compete and lead and so that requires that we maintain mainin these Investments that we support them on the ground
▶ 1:49:56uh and that we build uh through a new generation for us manufacturing very well thank you so much for your response and I thank all of our Witnesses for bringing their expertise to the table with that I yield back G gentle woman yields back now recognize uh Mr James from the great state of Michigan you recognize for five minutes the questioning sir thank you Mr chairman I uh I would be remiss if I didn't recognize you for your leadership and also bestowing on me the very high honor of leading supply chain and Manufacturing
▶ 1:50:26policy for the subcommittee in 119th Congress so I look forward to uh working to uh make this committee proud and make America strong and great again uh I'd also like to give chairman Cruz a shout um I was pleased to hear the Senate Commerce Committee approve the promoting resilient Supply chains act and I look forward to Leading this bill in the house I recognize the grand opportunity that we have in front of us to pass real substantive policy to benefit the American people as it pertains to a AI in manufacturing if we don't lead in AI the Chinese
▶ 1:50:56Communist party will have all the brain power because they've stolen our IP and they will have all the Manpower because they're using slave labor to end Western Civilization without firing a shot it's simply not enough to close our eyes and hope for the best we're in global competition with communist regimes that are hellbent on building their economy on the backs of ours Ai and Manufacturing here means not relying on goods made with slave labor on brain power stolen
▶ 1:51:26from Americans it means predictive modeling to reduce costs and risk in Supply chains it means minimizing supply chain disruptions before they occur it means making people more productive allowing them to upskill and businesses to upscale into the future this Congress I'm also going to be launching bamal and bipartisan reindustrialize caucus this new caucus will serve as natural convening body for Congress to engage with the broader ecosystems of sectors vital to National Security
▶ 1:51:57economic resilience and Global competitiveness taking feedback from industry leaders and experts such as yourself we will increase Manufacturing in a smart way we will industrialize and we recognize that um folks are not afraid of the future but we demand to be a part of it so uh in that vein I'm very concerned about our supply bases our supply bases and the ability to keep up manufacturers view data fragmentation as a major uh obstacle
▶ 1:52:27to effectively implementing AI while small and midsize manufacturers which make up 98.6 of us manufacturing firms often lack the capital to invest in AI um can uh you speak Miss humpton on some of the suppliers who you rely on um the the uh the important nature uh for them to help you accomplish your mission and also what the R&D tax credit would do for you and your suppliers survival thank you Congressman James for the question yes
▶ 1:52:58and I want to share with everyone that um Seaman USA has been localizing its supply chain for quite some time U we you may know us as the manufacturers of America's High-Speed Rail when bright Line West uh proceeds uh and and the what we have built is a very robust supply chain that activates across 40 States whenever we build a train as an but we also believe that there's a trend going on here that we want to share with
▶ 1:53:30glocalization the idea that we can take advantage of global Innovation but actually build and perform locally closer to the point of demand and this is going to be a key concept for strengthening us here in the United States the idea of incentivizing research and development is key because it is here that we're able to bring these Concepts together now one the R&D tax credits are vital excuse me the R&D tax credits are vital we we are looking forward to having
▶ 1:54:00tax credits that actually make the US a net exporter to the rest of the world in Innovation perfect I'd like to pick it back on another one uh you you operate the largest digital twin in the world for the Navy um can you tell me a little bit more about that and how AI will help address the bottlenecks in the defense industrial base in about 30 seconds please in 30 seconds what I can tell you the world's largest digital twin is the digital twin of the Navy's shipyards how do we get a bigger Navy we do it by making sure
▶ 1:54:31that ships spend less time in repair maintenance and overhaul how do we do that we have to redesign the process in the shipyards the digital twin that seens has been supporting the Navy with at first look there were Notions about what do we need to do to fix the problem by using a digital twin the team was able to discover that what they thought were the bottlenecks were not we would have spent billions of dollars solving a problem that didn't solve the bottleneck problem perfect sounds like a great technology to bring to Michigan to help us build ships Mr
▶ 1:55:01oxman thank um we hear the demand for more computing power and data center uh processing to service AI is going to continue to increase um can you give us a heads up on um permitting reform um all of the above energy production and maybe cite a couple of the unworkable environmental regulations that might hinder the energy required for this AI Revolution thanks Congressman James we definitely need an all of the above Energy Solution for data centers data centers power the AI Revolution that's taking place in the US and you're absolutely right to highlight
▶ 1:55:31hindrances to the roll out of energy to supply those data centers and all of the above Energy Solution will support the construction of data centers and make sure that there's uh not too much of a burden on the existing grid the biggest obstacle by far is the one you highlighted the local the state the county permanent requirements that hold up the deployment of energy and we're looking forward to working with view on uh making sure that those challenges can be addressed so that we can move forward the energy solutions that data centers need thank you Mr chairman and I don't have a Lincoln story as well
▶ 1:56:01but my youngest son turned six today so I'm going to go FaceTime with him thank you so much for your leadership y great thank you all right now we'll recognize uh representative dingo for her five minutes thank you uh Mr chairman and I look forward to working with you ranking members chowski and all the members of this subcommittee on this issue because it really is one of the most important issues facing Us in this country how do we ensure that America stays at the Forefront of innovation
▶ 1:56:32and technology and I want to thank the witnesses many of whom I've worked with with some who are have workers in my district and I want to increase those workers and keep them um building over the last several years we've made real progress advancing policies that strengthen our manufacturing sector Foster Innovation and create jobs I'm deeply concerned about where things are headed though in this Congress it's only February and we've already seen too many actions that have
▶ 1:57:02been done by this new Administration uh and maybe Mr musk seem an intent upon dismantling our federal government and seeding American leadership to our adversaries this is more than troubling and I hope my colleagues will help us keep the United States at the Forefront of manufacturing innovation on the global stage before it's too late last Congress this committee worked in a bipartisan manner on Supply chains we passed the promoting resilient Supply
▶ 1:57:32chains act in the house which included several Provisions I helped co-lead and we reached bipartisan by Camal agreement on a supply chain provision to be included in the end of the year continuing resolution which has been removed when Mr musk tweeted his opposition to that very carefully negotiated Bill strengthening our supply chains is critical for our industrial base for our Economic Security
▶ 1:58:02and our national security the federal government must have the tools to prevent vulnerabilities from escalating into full-blown crisises I'm also concerned about efforts to roll back investments from the inflation reduction act especially the 45x tax credit which has been vital in driving domestic manuf manufacturing and Innovation and where I come from particularly in the Auto industry everyone everyone has told me that these incentives are critical for our Global
▶ 1:58:33competitiveness one of the backbones of uh American manufacturing is the auto sector we've seen the devastating consequences of uncertainty and dest on manufacturers and suppliers we've got to bring our supply chains home and not just steel and aluminum and Autos as we're talking about but Pharmaceuticals and many others we should not be producing 80 to 90% of our medicines overseas that's a national security issue for decades poorly negotiated trade deals
▶ 1:59:03the Outsourcing of jobs have howled out our industrial base and at the same time the rise of automation has cost many workers their livelihoods yes Innovation is critical and we've got to lead but we have to be honest about the impact on workers and ensure that progress does not come at the expense of the middle class we cannot leave labor behind as we look to the future of advanced manufacturing labor must have a seat at the table and have access to the
▶ 1:59:34training and tools necessary to develop the skills they need to help the companies they work for compete in the world of advanced manufacturing and we as the federal government have a duty to protect American manufacturing and its workers as we've seen doing so is instrumental to our national security and economic Vitality Mr Kinder can you speak to the importance of passing by partisan Federal Supply Chain legislation in this
▶ 2:00:04Congress and fast because I went too uh thank you Congressman Dingle uh and thank you for representing so many of our employees in your District uh we are I don't know what you're exact specifically referring to on supply chain legislation like I say is the supply chain and particularly small to medium-sized manufacturers who populate that supply chain are the backbone of uh the manufacturing industry they create jobs in every District uh
▶ 2:00:35those manufacturers struggle to make investments in digital transformation and in Ai and to the extent that uh you know the this subcommittee and to the extent that Congress can come together to help strengthen that segment of the supply chain uh that's going to be positive for the manufacturing sector thank you Dr renolds tell us how important labor is in the advanced conversation thank you congresswoman um
▶ 2:01:05well of course labor is essential we are unable to make any of these products a lot of people like to talk about the lights out Factory but what we say at MIT is a lights out Factory really can't innovate we need our workers to be able to do that currently manufacturing jobs represent just under about 10% of all jobs in the economy um but they come with a very large multiplier effect very important for the economy and they're also tied to Technologies and industries of the future and they underpin
▶ 2:01:36the economic growth and prosperity for the country whether that's in transportation in energy or in manufacturing we see our Industrial Systems really um throughout the economy relying on our our workers um and we know that manufacturing can provide career paths and quality jobs our challenge in this country has not been about creating new jobs and the quantity of jobs it's been about the quality of jobs and so I think that the the fact that we're thinking about and talking about how can AI
▶ 2:02:06augment workers and support workers is really the first step to making sure this technology helps workers through increasing productivity which can also lead to increasing wages as it stands right now our small and mediumsized firms are struggling to adopt this technology to find workers to pay their workers and we can find a path forward that invests both in technology and in workers for the country I obviously you back and would like to submit some questions for the record Mr chairman
▶ 2:02:37next uh we'll recognize Mr Fry from the great state of uh South Carolina thank you again and welcome to the committee thank you Mr chairman thank you for your leadership on this issue good afternoon to our Witnesses I really appreciate app um the professional discussion in which you uh are informing us I think that is is that partnership is absolutely needed as we launch into uh this Brave New World called AI uh back home in my district um
▶ 2:03:07in Florence South Carolina GE Healthcare manufactur some of the best uh MRI machines and systems uh in the world these systems uh are used to provide uh highquality patient care in the US and around the world uh and they leverage AI uh to enhance Imaging speed and quality helping doctors uh make faster and more accurate diagnosises but ai's impact extends uh far beyond just Healthcare it is improving forecasting planning and process optimization uh at GE healthcare's
▶ 2:03:37manufacturing facilities ensuring efficiency from the production line to the supply chain uh and it's not just changing manufacturing it's re it's really redefining our economic future uh as you have testified to it offers unprecedented opportunities to strengthen American industry enhance our Global competitiveness and secure our technological future uh but to fully realize these benefits I think we must ensure uh that policies support rather than stifle AI Innovation and as we discussed today um I look forward to hearing
▶ 2:04:07from our Witnesses on how we can how we can do that Miss humpton um thank you for being here today Seamans uh has operated not only across the US uh but really in a global market um and across the globe do you find with all the states and all the different countries and all the different approaches in which they are treating AI do you find that regulatory uncertainty or fragmented uh legal requirements do you find that to be cumbersome uh for us manufacturers to adopt AI
▶ 2:04:38uh thank you for the question and I think my team who's joined me here today would tell you they are burning a lot of calories trying to track everything that's happening at the federal the state the local level and and with regulation uh you know obviously regulation being formed all around the world this is why we're thrilled that the Congress has invited industry to the table we really believe that as responsible businesses if we raise our voice in this environment we can help the Congress
▶ 2:05:08understand what we know but but the thing that we really appreciate from the Congress is a better understanding of the risks we face as a nation so this sharing of information is vitally important right now absolutely thank you so much Mr Mr oxman you've discussed how AI could strengthen our supply chain resilience and improve operational efficiency for our manufacturers uh but the regulations like the Bureau of industry and securi AI diffusion rule have raised concerns about unintended consequences on us Innovation
▶ 2:05:38and Global competitiveness how should Congress and the administration approach AI related regulations to protect our national security without hindering that very vital private sector Innovation thanks Congressman FR I'm glad you mentioned that AI diffusion rule because that is something we were very disappointed to see happen in the waning days of the Biden Administration the good news is there's an opportunity there's an open Ru making the Trump Administration can make that rule better these are complicated issues protecting National Security is obviously vital as we look at uh opportunities to
▶ 2:06:09continue uh Global Leadership by the US in AI so our hope is that uh the industry collaboration that we'll see in the coming weeks and months uh will lead to a better rule than was adopted the first time around and that's particularly important because as you noted uh these supply chain issues are also supply chain security issues so we need to make sure that American manufacturers have access everything they need to build and grow the economy here but we also need to make sure that vital American National Security interests are protected overseas and we're looking forward to working with the administration on striking
▶ 2:06:39that balance and working with Congress to make sure that uh there's uh proper analysis here as well uh to make sure that balance is struck thank you for that uh Mr Kinder um you you talked about this with uh my colleague uh Miss Dingle what do you think the biggest challenges are for uh smmes right now as it relates to AI thank you for the question um small and mediumsized Enterprises uh you know are they face Global competition
▶ 2:07:09and they need to invest to stay competitive they need to be able to invest in digital transformation they need to be able to invest in Ai and you know switching costs are high so they have systems that are in place now that they are using those switching costs are high uh the thing that can help them most is support from Congress either whether it's access to Capital whether it could be in some incentives or tax credits that would help them to make that investment be willing to make that investment to Le frog and be competitive as long as they're competitive the even larger manufacturers
▶ 2:07:40they work with will be will benefit great thank you and and uh just to wrap up what is Autodesk doing I think one of the concerns that I hear from constituents is uh bias that might be in AI what is what is auto doing to to ensure that AI is safe and and not biased yeah I mean similar to I think what seens is doing around industrial AI we train on on very uh specific data sets that are around the manufacturing process uh we don't run into some of the probably
▶ 2:08:11concerns around bias of large public data sets where you don't know where that may be com thank you for that Mr chairman I yield back I thank the gentleman now recognize uh Mr VC from great state of Texas you're recognized for five minutes for questioning Mr chairman thank you um you know one of the great things that have happened in the Dallas for Worth area is that we've really emerged as uh leaders uh in uh this uh area to uh uh to lead manufacturing facilities and operations in this new Cutting
▶ 2:08:41Edge technology that we're seeing and I think it's really part of a generational uh uh shift when it comes to uh the future of domestic manufacturing uh and and and it's amazing to see it right in your own backyard and I think that long term that we're going to see uh continued investments in the DFW area that are going to make the United States uh keep its competitive uh Edge and Innovation uh against Global competitors and obviously artificial intelligence is going to be a really
▶ 2:09:11big part of that uh however we also have to acknowledge that there are some risk involved with AI uh that we need to continue to be talking about that we're uh not mentioning enough and if we think that uh social media uh is out of control I can tell you that AI will even be more dangerous if we don't uh U make sure uh that we're taking these protective measures to make sure that middle class hardworking Americans uh uh don't become Left Behind uh
▶ 2:09:42and unfortunately one of the things I'm worried about is President Trump's recent executive order titled uh removing barriers to American leadership and artificial intelligence because I think that has undermined some essential AI protections that are accelerating the unchecked spread of AI across the country and so I wanted to ask Dr Reynolds uh what measures do you think Congress should take to mitigate the increased risk of cyber attacks and other threats to our national security as manufacturing increasingly
▶ 2:10:12adopts to AI without sufficient regulation thank you very much for the question Congressman uh certainly the concerns about about cyber security have been around for several years and have been escalating and particularly in our manufacturing base which has been most uh most directly uh attacked so I think that the the issue has been elevated and I think there is a bipartisan concern about how we address this how actually we go about doing that is another question
▶ 2:10:43and I think you've heard a range of uh of comments here this afternoon about exactly what the role of government should be uh my hope is that we find a path forward that is going to accelerate our uh in investigation and our research in this area uh but also find a pathway forward in which cyber security is front and center but also the issues you you raise whether it's uh privacy protection of minors security uh of information for
▶ 2:11:13uh for the consumer etc those are critical issues and I think at this point in time we've had a lot of discussion and debate uh but we need to find a collaborative and bipartisan path forward which is going to protect not just the consumer and the worker but our also our manufacturing base yeah no absolutely and uh also uh I want to talk about energy use Ai and energy use that gotten a lot of attention and it should uh last year I visited uh Seaman they have a new facility in my district in
▶ 2:11:43Fort Worth and understand that Seaman digital twin offerings can provide uh realtime insights into the energy usage of various components uh in the data center uh but I'm worried that if we don't reform our permitting process to allow uh uh energy of all forms to be generated and put onto the grid that there are going to be risk uh to constituents uh uh in the manufacturing uh sector do you I wanted to ask particularly Miss humpton
▶ 2:12:13do you think that that is uh something that we should be concerned about Congressman VY we were thrilled to host you at Fort Worth and I've been br in today about this as a real illustration of the power of AI in not only building but in Staffing training our staff and and bringing people from from outside the manufacturing world into Manufacturing in Fort Worth the power that is going to be required for AI is absolutely essential and and actually technologists like us but
▶ 2:12:43in particular seens has been working in the field of electricity management for almost our entire and what we have right now is a brilliant opportunity to use AI as we solve this problem we do need to use new techniques like micro grids the ability for people to generate power on site perhaps sell it back to the grid when they're not using it the ability to control those microgrids for maximum uptime the the AI That's
▶ 2:13:13available now in the energy sector is very exciting and we've been working uh with very closely with the Department of energy and with several administrations to make sure that we're at making these things visible and and available so I I do believe that we need to consider both the AI itself as well as the power provision thank you very much thank you Mr chairman I thank you Mr VC appreciate he uh yields back and now we recognize Miss Lee from the great state of Florida Tampa Bay area
▶ 2:13:44and she's doing a great job representing my former constituents so I'll recognize you for five minutes of question thank you Mr chairman it's indeed big shoes to fill uh in Pasco County Miss humpton thank you very much for being here today and for providing your testimony your perspective on artificial intelligence empowering employees really resonates I think with many of us on this committee there is a fear that AI will replace the American employee but I agree
▶ 2:14:14with you that we need to look at AI as an assistant to the American manufacturer rather than its replacement can you provide some examples of how seens is using AI in manufacturing and Supply chains to help its workers do their jobs more effectively and productively thank you Congress wi Lee and and yeah this is really fun because there are a couple of fantastic stories here imagine a couple of Engineers thinking that they want to design
▶ 2:14:45a light motor to be used in a in aviation electric Aviation what you have to do is take weight out of the motor how are you going to do that what these Engineers did is they collaborated they were debating back and forth they were going to have votes on the team of who had the better design for one element and one member of the team said well why don't we ask our generative design assistant and it turned out that assistant drew a picture that was unlike what either of the expert Engineers had come up with and in fact its performance was better
▶ 2:15:16than what could have been designed using paper and pencil now let me tell you another funny story we work with battery manufacturers all the time and I met with one startup about 18 months ago and the the president of the company was telling me about his new us-based Factory that he was getting ready to build I asked him if he had used a digital twin to plan that facility and he said no I've done something even better I'm actually building a scale model we're gonna have a just one line small
▶ 2:15:46small scale production I saw that same CEO several months later and he said bar I should have gone the digital route when I built it I forgot to put in any overflow areas and so anytime one part of the line stopped we had a mess on our hands these are just examples of the kinds of things that come up where the use of AI can actually Elevate the results that we get and that's not to mention the things that are happening every day we have um operations that require
▶ 2:16:16intensive stocking and restocking and frankly that's drudgery but the ability now to use artificial intelligence to help us plan that work plan the movement of goods through our factories we are making our own factories safer more productive and frankly just playing more fun to work in thank you Miss Kinder I'm Sorry Miss Miss hton now Mr Kinder uh I want to First congratulate you on the grant that Autodesk received from uh my alma
▶ 2:16:46matter the University of Florida to advance the field of industrialized construction engineering as I understand it this work will dramatically reduce construction costs while doubling the speed of construction and I look forward to seeing what this partnership can accomplish could you tell us about how Autodesk software makes manufacturers more resilient and ready to adapt to supply chain disruptions inflation and things thank you for your question Congressman congresswoman
▶ 2:17:17Lee uh we're incredibly excited about the project with the University of Florida uh industrialized construction is something that we have uh supported for a long time it's basically bringing manufacturing practices and the efficiencies of that into the construction process which does uh save time and uh and money uh and so we are uh we when we talk about industrial construction we're talking about building some things off site and then bringing them and assembling them on site we talk about taking software including Ai
▶ 2:17:47and bringing manufacturing software the HVAC system in a building you know into the architectural software and and combining those historically those have been very disconnected so all of this drives efficiency and when you add AI on top of that and digital twins uh it becomes a much more efficient process and in addition to the added efficiencies that you describe how can the use of artificial intelligence in this way also Foster Innovation
▶ 2:18:17we have a capacity challenge in the Us in uh in terms of a shortage of skilled labor and manufacturing jobs that are unfilled AI by taking some of the drudgery as described or some of the more mundane or tedious low value added tasks by automating those you augment the worker so you're augment augmenting the worker freeing up some of their time so they can focus on much more creative and uh more productive tasks thank you and Mr chairman
▶ 2:18:47I yield back I think think the gentlewoman now recognize representative tryan for her five minutes of questioning okay well uh Miss Kelly will go first thank you well thank you recognize your Reon rep tryan and thank you to the
▶ 2:19:17chair and ranking member for holding this very important hearing to discuss the importance of ai's role in the future of uh American manufacturing last Congress I joined former rep and now US senator Lisa blunt Rochester and Reps Dingle and wild in co-leading multiple bills to make up the supply chain act which garnered the support of over 160 stakeholders these vital bills would have established a new office within the Department of Commerce charged with monitoring Supply chains identifying supply
▶ 2:19:48chain gaps and as well as addressing supply chain risks unfortunately many of these critical Provisions were pulled from the bipartisan continuing resolution that failed to receive a vote Dr Reynolds based on your experience with supply chain shock during the pandemic do you agree that it's important that the federal government take a leading role in mapping and monitoring supply chain vul vulnerabilities excuse me well thank you congresswoman it's an important question and
▶ 2:20:18one that I lived and breathed for my couple years in in the White House I I still have PTSD I think from The Experience um but what we learned from that experience at the beginning of the uh covid crisis was that in fact the maybe the US government did not have sufficient information we knew that about about Supply chains but what was more disturbing is that the private sector didn't have the information either when the semiconductor crisis hit and we brought in a lot of the semiconductor
▶ 2:20:48uh companies or or leaders in Auto and medical device they themselves were not clear what their supply chain looked like and what the um sem semiconductor industry you know and Supply was was uh facing so it really underscored the role of government here that that there is an important role for the federal government to play to try and collect the data to uh obviously in a in a way that's uh respecting privacy to disseminate the data and be able to look around the corner
▶ 2:21:19at what the next vulnerability will be and so while we have really made I think significant progress on that we have to realize there's a long way to go and I applaud the work that you have done and the creation of more capabilities at the federal government level to do this if we think about um the recent crisis we had after Hurricane Helen hit and all of a sudden the one facility that produced IV fluids in this country was wiped out was that something we could have predicted ahead of time would we have known
▶ 2:21:49that uh that was a challenge and in fact I think AI generative AI will be helpful for us to understand our supply chains and our vulnerabilties so I think it's an incredibly important area I think we now look at the US economy in a way that we never did before through the lens of Supply chains and I applaud that work thank you Illinois has a history of manufacturing is one of the largest manufacturing centers in the midwest Chicago and other parts of my district be became a hub for trade and commerce due to its access to strategic waterways and railroads
▶ 2:22:20I believe that Illinois's history coupled with existing infrastructure to accommodate large industrial sites and Manufacturing facilities will ensure the state has a major role in the US's effort to increase domestic manufacturing but to accomplish this goal we must ensure that small and medium-sized manufacturers can compete and Dr Reynolds in your written testimony you mentioned that there are 250,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the US and that we need financial incentives
▶ 2:22:51to help them make the leap into digital manufacturing what are your best Arguments for why in this budget constrained environment we should invest more federal funds in small and manufacturers as quickly as you can we've been talk yes we've been talking about the role of theem as the backbone of manufacturing for this country and I bring that statistic forward the 250,000 small and mediumsized firms in the country if we just wanted 20% of those to be digitally advanced and leading the
▶ 2:23:21country that's 50,000 small and medium-sized firms and right now we have no way of reaching those firms through any direct mechanisms so what we have to really think is creatively how do we try and support those firms at scale and I think the PO the the argument here is that we know that our small and medium-sized firms are less productive than our larger firms and the positive spillover effects that happen uh if we can get them to become more productive are important not just for National Security which would be the first AR argument you made we have a shrinking
▶ 2:23:51supply chain base and our defense industrial base is really suffering from that to the extent that the uh DOD highlighted in its National industrial um strategy report last year supply chain resilience among our smmes is a critical for them but we need that not just for a defense and national security purposes but also for the supply chain resilience as we are looking at ways in which we're trying to invest in resilience not just efficiency we really have to see how our small and mediumsized terms play into that and how we
▶ 2:24:22can support them in being more resilient thank you and I'm out of time I Yi back I think the gentlewoman now will recognize representative Cain for his five minutes welcome to the committee and thank you to our Witnesses for being here today in the era of innovation driven by emerging Technologies such as AI it is essential that the federal government support equally in innovative solutions to maximize
▶ 2:24:52the benefits of this technological growth but also allow businesses to innovate to stay competitive a successful program in New Jersey has been the manufacturing extension partnership this public private partnership with centers in all 50 states it's dedicated to helping small and mediumsized manufacturers grow and to compete Miss humpton as a large manufacturer provides critical Technologies and tools to company what policy tools should Congress consider
▶ 2:25:23prioritizing the needs of smaller and mediumsized manufacturers who need access to AI enabl Technologies optimize their operations and to drive their success Congressman King thank you and we are so proud that our research headquarters are located in is in uh Princeton as well as many of our headquarters functions are in the Islan area um the role today of public private partnership
▶ 2:25:53is key how do we reach those small and medium Enterprises at scale we know that we have a lot of people you know working on that problem I believe the work of the manufacturing institutes has been critical to progress and so we alone participate in six or seven of the manufacturing institutes with the goal of bringing Technologies into an environment where others including small and Med Enterprises can actually experiment and adopt
▶ 2:26:24one of the things that business can do is to actually look at the way technology is provided we've done an analysis and have determined that we need new licensing structures for instance for small and medium Enterprises so that they can afford the entry level um you know to to get into the the same tool sets that large Enterprises are using I do believe that the uh a critical piece then to Cap all of this and tie the workers back in is
▶ 2:26:54the U network of community colleges across the United States can be an excellent partner in scale yeah no they are crucially Partners in that regard and I agree with you on that uh Mr oxman as you know there have been ample conversations regarding preparing the AI Workforce what do you recommend that we as Congress do to position ourselves to remain competitive amidst the growing Technologic technological
▶ 2:27:26landscape thank you Mr Congressman Kean and I also want to thank you for your sponsorship of the lift AI act which is uh focused uh entirely on this very important issue uh the technology industry is laser focused on finding top talent uh and filling hundreds of thousands of open roles and making sure that American workers are trained uh for those opportun unties and what we look forward to working with you on uh in the new Congress is uh
▶ 2:27:56opportunities to partner uh industry and government together the lift AI act what was great about that is it was focused on the National Science Foundation uh funding research opportunities uh grant opportunities educational opportunities uh for stem education um and we'd like to work on you w with you on that as well again uh because that's the important key to uh making sure we have an educated AI enabled Workforce um last month and thank you for that partnership and look forward to contining to work with you um last month
▶ 2:28:27several of your member companies announc a multi-billion dollar investment know in Stargate project over the next four years to build AI infrastructure which will power future generation AI Technologies here in the United States this is an exciting development for job growth future and Innovation and shows another example of us leadership in you in AI development can you just discuss how this project will catalyze US economic and AI growth and what are the direct impacts on us
▶ 2:28:57manufacturing this is such an exciting announcement it happened on just the second day of the Trump Administration the president had uh leaders from three ITI member companies open AI uh Oracle and SoftBank uh at the White House to announce it it's a multi hundred billion dollar investment in building these incredible data center campuses first one that's been announced has been in Texas but there are uh announcements pending in multiple states around the country this is going to cement AI leadership in the United States
▶ 2:29:27and it's going to create just in the first announced uh campus 40,000 jobs that's what open AI predicts uh will happen and it's going to uh be a partnership across the entire AI ecosystem that will eventually create hundred thousands of jobs and as I mentioned uh they're targeting $500 billion doar worth of investment in the United States so this is a great opportunity another great example of how Ai and Manufacturing together can really really partner uh and grow the US economy and create jobs thank you and uh I yield back my
▶ 2:29:58time thank you gentlemen now we'll recognize the ranking member of the F committee Mr pal for his five minutes of questioning thank you Mr chairman I I'm deeply concerned that the chaotic and destructive environment being created by President Trump and Congressional Republicans is costly for consumers and for businesses including manufacturers American manufacturers are working hard to modernize their facilities by adopting Ai and other new technologies and training their Workforce to meet the demands of advanced
▶ 2:30:29manufacturing and many of them rely on federal financial support tax incentives and other Federal programs to make this transition possible but instead of continuing to promote our Vital manufacturing sector president Trump and his billionaire friends are sowing seeds of Destruction illegally halting Federal funding across the government and thrusting our nation into nonsensical trade Wars with our allies so Dr Reynolds I have three questions to try to get them in in the four minutes how have the programs Investments and
▶ 2:30:59tax credits created by the inflation reduction act chips and science Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law enabled American manufacturers to compete in the global economy if you will uh thank you congressman and I agree with you that that uh for all of the great Investments and the proog progress we're making uh in our Advanced manufacturing we also have experienced in the last few weeks a lot of uncertainty and uncertainty is bad for business it's bad for planning
▶ 2:31:29it's bad for us manufacturing uh but these Investments that have come through the different parts of legislation have really sown enormous amounts of investment and opportunity going forward particularly the use of tax incentives I think has encouraged private sector investment and leverag numbers that we've discussed already that have been very important those th those Investments are just getting underway we have at least a decade ahead of us of watching them
▶ 2:31:59come to fruition and bring jobs and investment uh in communities across the country and I think it's in industries that not only are uh important for the country in terms of National Security and uh supply chain resilience but also in terms of export opportunities places where the US can lead globally and where we haven't historically uh our companies have been uh put between a rock and a hard place over time over decades on one side we have uh
▶ 2:32:30actors such as China who are engaged in non in in sort of non-market activities that have made it very hard for our manufacturers to compete on the other hand we have investors who are looking for short-term returns uh from our manufacturers without a long-term view we now have an opportunity through this legislation in which we have invested in the long-term capabilities of manufacturing in the US and this is an an inflection point a moment for the US in which we can lean in and Lead globally in these areas
▶ 2:33:01well I'm going to compress my last two questions into one and you mentioned tariffs and this is of course one of my concerns that the president and Republicans are raising costs for American families who are already struggling by throwing the United States into trade Wars with these tariffs for our closest allies Canada Mexico European Union so can you discuss the importance of preserving trade relationships with our close allies for access to intermediate goods and external markets for finished
▶ 2:33:31products if you will well of course there are appropriate places for tariffs when it comes to National Security uh when it comes to unfair Trade Practices but when it comes to our largest trade Ally trading partners and allies it's really not the right place for the use of these ter tariffs I think it raises a number of issues first of course it creates this enormous amount of uncertainty we've seen our manufacturers have to uh you know have Whiplash over whether they were going to see major tariff
▶ 2:34:01imp impositions on Mexico and Canada and then to have that paused it's it's costly to the economy it's costly to our manufacturers um second as you said it raises the price of intermediate goods and it's not just for some Industries it's for all of our manufacturing Industries and so that kind of cost not only makes them less competitive it also puts at risk our manufacturing jobs um third I think it it's important for us to recognize that we've had trade agreements that we've all come around uh with our allies
▶ 2:34:32Mexico and Canada um and that if you break those trade agreements you're losing the trust and you're losing credibility long term I think it also makes it harder for us to sell our um end products our finished goods in those markets and it's important to understand as well that we have built a manufactur ecosystem that is not just um you know ends at our borders it's a North American innovation ecosystem and it's one that in the Auto industry in particular benefits from uh just as a reminder
▶ 2:35:02Mexico supplies about 42% of our intermediate Goods in our Auto Auto industry and Canada supplies around 13% so it's very hard to imagine that you're putting tariffs on some of these Partners who actually are part and parcel of our Auto industry thank you thank you Mr chairman appreciate it very much uh the gentleman yields back now will recognize representative Evans from the great state of Colorado uh welcome to the committee and also uh I enjoyed our conversation
▶ 2:35:32on this very subject yesterday so I recognize you for five minutes for questioning thank you so much for that Mr chairman I enjoyed the conversation as well thank you to the ranking member and thank you of course uh to all of our Witnesses for coming on this snowy day to have this conversation uh Mr oxman I'll start with you first um we've talked a lot about uh competition with China and the CCP in my district I have a company that uses AI both in the manufacturer and the deployment of Technology that's used to stabilize
▶ 2:36:03suspended loads um so right now it's predominantly used for uh helicopter rescue hoists military search and rescue things like that but this technology can also be applied to critical infrastructure around uh for instance cranes um Port cranes cranes for construction and so uh I think uh most of us are probably familiar with some of the risks of the US relying on Chinese cranes for that critical infrastructure and so my question to you is what role um does AI
▶ 2:36:33play uh both in being able to protect and Harden some of our critical infrastructure from U malicious attacks abroad and how can we best um protect and promote that uh intellectual property rights and keep that from being um compromise by some of our foreign competitors thank you Congressman Evans for the question uh this is actually the topic that I think the Trump Administration is spending some of the most time on with the very early uh release of the AI executive
▶ 2:37:04order and the recent announcement from the office of Science and Technology policy opening a request for uh for input for inquiry uh from industry into AI uh rul making we're very pleased to see this early attention to this issue because as you noted there are critical National Security implications uh of making American AI technology available internationally but we have to balance that with the need to address International markets and give American companies the opportunity to sell around the world to the 95%
▶ 2:37:35of the people who live on the planet who don't live in the United States so you're right that these are critically important issues and that balance of National Security and economic interests is one that is very important and and very challenging because we do want to make sure that these use cases of that we've talked about today are available here and also available to our allies as you noted AI can be a critical tool in cyber security defenses for example augmenting human capability and making sure that we are hardening our networks and our infrastructure
▶ 2:38:05against potential adversaries so I think all of these issues are critically important it's uh it's heartening to see the Trump Administration paying such close attention and soliciting industry input and we look forward to working with you on these important issues as well thank you uh moving on to Mr uh Mr Kinder in your testimony you talked a lot about uh the use of AI in manufacturing and uh we oftentimes hear when we're having this conversation that uh oil and gas levels in the US are at record level Productions um but I know from conversations
▶ 2:38:35with my local electric utility that we're going to need at least in my uh area we're going to need three times as much electricity as currently produced right now to meet some of the growing demands uh for for digital and for AI purposes and so uh my my question to you is uh specifically with regard to energy availability what can Congress do uh to help ensure that the United States and not our foreign adversaries Remains the global leader both in Ai and also in the manufacturing that AI
▶ 2:39:06supports thank you for your question Congressman Evans uh with respect to energy I mean AI will use a lot a tremendous amount of energy uh I think what Congress you know can do is to both strengthen the grid you know uh establish policies that help us to strengthen the grid and also help us to find all sources of energy production uh renewable non-renewable to be able to power now I would also add that we are in a stage right now
▶ 2:39:37where I I believe chips will get more efficient I believe the training of models will become more efficient uh and that energy use will become more efficient in AI we're still in early days and in terms of trading a lot of these models thank you and then last question uh to miss humpton you brought up one of my favorite topics uh which is micro grids and using AI to be able to implement we were just talking about that all of the above energy policy so can you just talk a little bit more about how AI
▶ 2:40:07can be used when you have rooftop solar panels uh that are feeding electricity into the grid then the cloud cover rolls over uh the temperature drops now the heaters kick on and in the space of just a few minutes now you you have electrons flowing the other way to Now power houses that used to be powering the grid but now it's going the other way can you talk about the complexity of managing the Grid in AI thank you Congressman this is my favorite topic I actually think this is the most exciting segment of the US economy right now is the grid Edge right
▶ 2:40:38where the old-fashioned grid and its transmission and distribution meets all those users well now all those users of electricity can also produce electricity everything from our cars to homes to our our car ports so so the idea of having using the the power of software with large utilities Now using software to manage the flow across their distribution networks to even now the smallest users my mom put rooftop solar on her
▶ 2:41:08house she sells back to the utility when she has extra and she buys when she needs to and she has the lowest electricity bills she's ever had these are simple Concepts but they're complex when they come together into basically what the National Academy of Engineers called the greatest invention of the last century the Grid it's it's a very complex organism so I think the work of Congress to ensure that we support the administration in finding ways to trim
▶ 2:41:38back regulation that prevents us from being able to make changes the the attention to Technologies and the ability to educate uh policy makers and by the way Seaman stands ready to work side by side with you this is this is exciting times thank you so much yield back right gentlemen yields back now we recognize uh representative Tran for her five minutes of questioning I appreciate her patience thank you chair bakus good afternoon everyone um although I'm not sure that we're
▶ 2:42:08always going to reach agreement in this committee on a whole host of issues I think everyone in the in the room absolutely agrees that America needs to lead the world uh on Advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence especially with the uh constant geopolitical threats to our supply chain stability and reliability in public private Partnerships is vital to ensure that American businesses can plan for the long term and trust that the government um will be there to build Out programs
▶ 2:42:39um to uh to Foster these types of Partnerships the chips and science act the infrastructure law the inflation reduction act you know in my district in Massachusetts I've seen the powerful impact that those strong um public private Partnerships can have on stimulating the local economy and on shuring high-paying jobs and when done together with ground groundbreaking research institutions like UMass LEL those programs are one of the best ways legislators can work
▶ 2:43:10to increase American competitiveness Dr Reynolds um how does direct investment in public private Partnerships accelerate the onshore of manufacturing I know you've answered this question but I want to just set the stage sure thank you very much it's a great question and um appreciate that particularly coming from the state of Massachusetts which is really a leader in these kinds of Partnerships uh what we've seen of course is that some of our best Innovation uh is coming out
▶ 2:43:40of the University partnership that occurs between universities and uh in investors and basically uh the larger EOS system in a place like Massachusetts and those those Innovations are leading to some of the most advanced new technologies as well as startups and our hope in in developing that kind of investment and building up that pipeline is that in fact we grow these companies we grow these Technologies and they become global leaders uh for uh for the country
▶ 2:44:10and for uh export so we have a lot of great examples of how we do this I think the Investments that we've seen to date um in University research in early stage research is critically important for driving some of the uh later developments we saw saw that of course with the covid vaccine absolutely um and I wonder if you could just follow up how are those manufacturers affected when uh sudden changes like a uh a blanket Federal funding freeze
▶ 2:44:40are announced I mean I hoping that you could just Describe the impact that that kind of unpredictability has on the investment ments in these Partnerships uh or deter even private sector engagement in those um ongoing efforts well I think that we've talked to date uh about the importance of certainty and predictability in the business uh context and what it means for firms as they decide what to invest in and when to make those Investments
▶ 2:45:11that they can see ahead and it certainly has been an um uncertain few weeks here in the United States I think that's also the case when it comes to collaborators and partners like universities uh budgets are laid out years in advance the importance of um building up labs and building up uh the knowledge base and capabilities in a lab does not happen overnight it happens over years it takes it's also very expensive to build that kind of capability yeah and so uh having some predictability on budgets is something
▶ 2:45:41of course everybody in this room can appreciate is what it what how that helps us you know deliver uh the important outputs we're looking for thank you Dr Reynolds I can tell you that manufacturers in my district and across Massachusetts are deeply distressed when they hear the president threatened to take those funds away um in some cases it'll be catastrophic uh and even the threats weaken America as a place to do business um Mr Kinder you mentioned in your testimony that um the US manufacturing SE
▶ 2:46:11sector has 622,000 unfilled jobs and you highlighted the critical role of stem education from K through 12 Technical Training apprenticeship programs in addressing this Gap uh this Administration is threatening to cut those very educational programs uh even going so far as dismantling the Department of Education um the development of our Technical and Manufacturing uh Workforce would be um
▶ 2:46:41how would you how would Autodesk have to adjust as an employer to meet that demand in Workforce if that was to happen thank you for your question we we work with the education Community uh at length we have over n work with over 19,000 institutions from kindergarten all through all the way through graduate schools vocation vocational schools uh to provide free software to be able to train that next Generation uh we think that is
▶ 2:47:12absolutely critical and we'll be training them in tools that include AI uh going forward and helping to upskill um um that that Workforce well thank you I know I've run out of time um I'll submit my other questions for the record thank you Mr chair thank you very much now I'll recognize uh Mr Goldman for his five minutes of questioning thank thank you Mr chairman very much um Mr oxman likeed Martin and other defense manufacturers in my
▶ 2:47:42district use AI into their assembly lines and supply chain Logistics to improve efficiency enhance quality control and more why is it important both to our economic and National Security that this industry have access to Cutting Edge Technology and Manufacturing thank you Congressman Goldman and your district is in fact a hot bed of innovation uh ITI member company medronic is also doing a lot of investment in uh AI powered uh medical devices uh in your District as well so the short answer your question
▶ 2:48:12is this is key to the manufacturing Renaissance that's taking place in the United States and what we're particular excited about is how as you hear from all the witnesses today this is an ecosystem uh in the technology sector that's powering this so you've got software companies Hardware companies data center operators this is another area that's just exploding in Texas in particular um semiconductor manufacturers also exploding in Texas right now uh the investment of literally tens of billions of dollars in semiconductor uh manufacturing uh
▶ 2:48:42facilities in Texas so all of this is taking place at a time that we're focused on the right solutions to power that kind of investment and Innovation and power is quite literally one of those areas that we need to focus on as well making sure the energy grid uh can support it that we're investing in in all of the above energy strategy to make it happen so uh we're very excited about uh about working together to make sure that the policy environment is right but as you can tell in Texas uh and across the country this investment is taking place today thank you so much and miss humpton I know you uh know something about
▶ 2:49:13uh not necessarily my district Mr V's District um but welcome to Fort Worth um seems is opening a new facility there exactly type of activity we need to enhance our technological leadership and support onshoring on domestic manufacturing I understand that Seamans is innovating not only with industrial AI but is also experiencing how to drive efficiency and maximize operations at data centers can you please elaborate on Seaman's expertise in this Arena and how you view data centers
▶ 2:49:43as critical to manufacturing thank you so much congressman and by the way you delighted to know that our technology is also used by some of those other manufacturers um so so here's the interesting thing about this technology it's in and around the manufacturing life cycle and so it's fascinating to think about where does a company like Seamans play in the data center Marketplace not only are we helping the semiconductor
▶ 2:50:13manufacturers design their chips so that we can achieve that you know enhanced Energy Efficiency cooling Etc and and enhanced uh performance we're also helping those who are constructing the data centers to build their data centers and provide the critical power to them so we my colleagues at Seaman energy are off generating power and they put it on high voltage transmission lines medium and low voltage switch gear I mean
▶ 2:50:43don't get me started because it's it's great stuff but but we're using those AI tools and and fact manufacturing them close to you at at Fort Worth all of those components that go into the data center and then we ourselves are users of the AI that gets that gets managed inside those data centers this is truly I heard a phrase recently that may apply right now partnership is the new leadership that's the era we're in now and I'm excited about what we can do together good well we're glad to be your partner
▶ 2:51:13and can you also describe the likelihood of autonomous manufacturing facilities in the short term term what are the pros and cons and which regulation should we consider removing or adding to facilitate us Innovation versus those we should create as guardrails to protect workers well a as we've talked about today we actually have a shortage of workers in manufacturing so what we know for sure is that we need to make every individual who's in a manufacturing environment as productive as they can possibly be technology can help us
▶ 2:51:44do that that's wonderful uh that we've had a little bit of conversation about lights out facilities and I don't know about many of them sure there are many things that can be done on a lights out basis if we think about you know let's say the pharmaceutical production line and when we get to the point of individualized medicine the ability for an anonomous line to actually uh control and monitor the progress of materials that are flowing through the manufacturing line we know that will come but
▶ 2:52:14in most cases what we're really doing is making things that that need to be assembled within a larger supply chain there is a lot of logistics there's a lot of tracking people are needed in the creativity that puts all of those pieces together and I think we're going to see that for quite some time you timed that perfectly thank you very much thank you all the panelists Mr chairman I yield appreciate it very much gentleman yields back now we ask uh I believe we have Miss shrier Dr shrier
▶ 2:52:44you're recognized for five minutes for your questioning thank you Mr chairman uh thank you to our Witnesses we have heard from each of you that we need significantly more workers with targeted technical expertise including in AI assisted Manufacturing in order for America's Advanced manufacturing industry to stay competitive in a global market um however what I'm hearing from the business Community is that
▶ 2:53:14President Trump's erratic emotional Behavior has uncertainty and chaos to American businesses that are looking to invest in the future and plan and train up labor um my Republican colleagues have spoken at length about the need to protect America's competitive Advantage when it within the increasingly competitive field of advanced manufacturing and I I agree with them we've got to keep our Competitive Edge in
▶ 2:53:44every industry where it makes sense for us to be leading in manufact facturing um but at the same time the Trump administration's recent government-wide Federal funding frees and efforts to dismantle the Department of Education our continuing uh and our Career and Technical education Source uh tariffs on our strategic allies I have heard just radio Silence from my Republican colleagues about this and this is ultimately going to undermine uh the United States
▶ 2:54:14competitive and educational Workforce and technological competitiveness uh Miss Miss humpton you're you're the CEO of seaman USA a subsidiary of much larger Seamans International based in Germany and in fact your ultrasound headquarters uh is just down the street from my house in my congressional district and I have visited many times and have been so impressed by the way that you have used AI to diagnose fatty liver
▶ 2:54:45disease with a simple ultrasound and so thank you for using that and saving lives um on Monday night president Trump issued an executive order imposing 25% tariffs excuse me on steel and aluminum Imports um Germany's one of the largest exporters of Steel to the United States and you talked about sourcing materials here but the issue is complicated because if there's scarcity here prices go up and
▶ 2:55:15there are retaliatory tariffs you're GNA have difficulty experting com sorry you're GNA have difficulty exporting I I wonder if I understand the question let let me say this that I I don't think you'll get any business to say yes we want more costs in our supply chain right nobody would say that but what we do recognize is that we have a an Administration
▶ 2:55:45that is uh very supportive of manufacturing overall in the United States we're going to stay laser focused on our customers needs make sure we're responsive to them and make sure we do everything we can even as policies and regulations change to make the most of American manufacturing and the opportunity ahead of us thank you um I'm gonna yield back because of my cough I apologize it happens it happens happened to me the other day so we understand they gentle
▶ 2:56:16lady yields back now we'll uh well I'll recognize my good friend who represents the University of Florida I know what she's going to talk about what she's going to highlight I'm sure uh I'll recognize her for her questioning her five minutes of questioning thank you Mr chairman and of course gogators as always um actually my questions were asked earlier by my good friend also from the Sunshine State Representative Laura Lee um and so now
▶ 2:56:46that we're towards the tail end of the Committee hearing hearing um a lot has been discussed certainly I wanted to talk about digital twins the the Investments the University of Florida is making um but I wanted to open up the floor to each of our Witnesses because I know there's always something that gets left out of these hearings so I'm going to start with you miss miss uh humpton if you can maybe speak to some of the things that you wanted to cover or didn't get asked in this hearing yet today this has been a phenomenal conversation and I'm looking down at my
▶ 2:57:16notes of things that I wanted to make sure we covered and and I'm I'm coming up empty thank you for making sure that we have a comprehensive dialogue uh the I think the the thing that um I hope we all leave with today is that industrial AI is different from consumer AI thank you absolutely and thank you for all the work that you do on digital twins it is absolutely revolutionary and I'm very excited for the possibilities of digital twins in multiple different Industries and sectors so thank you um Mr Kinder
▶ 2:57:46I know representative uh L Le she uh mentioned the University of Florida and the College of Engineering um anything that you wanted to add as part of your response to her question or expand on that the I I should clarify a little bit more specifically the importance of R&D and the Investments that we have to make at the University level in order to continue pushing this type of Technology yes I think we uh thank you for the question uh congresswoman uh we're very excited about the
▶ 2:58:16Florida partnership I think it's going to launch La this fall I believe is the plan uh or the uh for the degree program um we think Brea breathing bringing manufacturing techniques to the building sector will revolutionize how we build especially housing of which there's a there's a critical shortage in the US our software the training we provide teaches students how to reduce those costs by 50% uh and this is where Autodesk brings together both manufacturing
▶ 2:58:46and architecture engine construction we partnered with a modular construction company in Oakland California to design more than 300 AI enabled affordable housing units at at about half the cost and half the time and half of the waste in the process uh so we're very proud of that and look forward to you know working with and partnering with universities to further that type of research and along with that in Congress we're doing everything we can to make sure that the regulatory environment doesn't
▶ 2:59:16trip everybody up as were innovating and you guys are doing so much more with half the cost and half the time uh we need to do it with half the regulations so this is my Shameless plug for the Reigns act uh right now but thank you for that um uh Dr Reynolds I saw you flipping through your notes to make sure that you that there was nothing that you hadn't missed was there anything that you wanted to cover that we haven't touched on today you know I might just reinforce a few points that I think have been made tonight today the first one I want to make is a sense of urgency
▶ 2:59:47I think that we have an understanding that we really need to do a collaborative project here this is going to take government it's going to take industry it's going to take Academia take the Civil Society but we have an urgent moment here because I think the US is at an inflection point and we have done so much over the last few years uh to rebuild this manufacturing base to build momentum we now have hundreds of new facilities being built we have a whole new crop of uh manufacturing startups that are really changing the face particularly in
▶ 3:00:17AI um all of that momentum must continue and if we uh can get aligned and ensure that we don't have too much disruption or changing of the rules uh Midstream I think that that we are really going to be able to uh accelerate the work here and succeed with our our Tipping Point and so I want to also just emphasize that the that path forward is really an investment in the technology but it's also the investment in our workers and those together will help us do this excellent thank you
▶ 3:00:49floor is yours thank you congresswoman I think the one issue that didn't come up today uh that I just want to mention is tax policy and I realize this is not the tax writing committee but uh everyone here is going to have an opportunity to vote on taxes at some point the expiration of the provision in the 2017 tax cut and jobs act that allows companies to uh deduct the investment that they make in research and development absolutely in the year in which that investment takes place the expiration of that provision has been enormously harmful to the ability companies to invest in R&D
▶ 3:01:20here in the US restor restoring that provision will be uh kind of the the fuse that ignites uh Renaissance of investment in manufacturing and other Industries here in the US so that's the one thing that I'd mention well and thank you for mentioning that as someone who represents one of the top biotech hubs and incubators in the world the R&D tax credit deduction is absolutely important and and critical to so many Industries so thank you all so much for your time and expertise today and uh the future's bright I'm so glad that we're not having a doomsday or conversation today so thank
▶ 3:01:50you and with that Mr chairman I yield back I appreciate it very much and that was a great move cat thank you for giving them the opportunity to elaborate on these issues we appreciate it very much all right next we have uh we don't have anybody on the Democrat side Dr oh yes yes I'm sorry uh Miss hoan she's a a great valuable member of our committee we're very fortunate to have her we'll be working on quite a few issues together I'll I'll recognize you for five minutes of
▶ 3:02:20questioning thank you Mr chairman I'm pleased to be a member of the subcommittee uh and thank you to the ranking member um and to our Witnesses for your testimony today U my home state of Indiana is one of the most manufacturing intensive states in the country according to the Indiana manufacturers Association manufacturing makes up 28% of Indiana's GDP and 177% of our Workforce when you account for the broad impact beyond the workforce
▶ 3:02:50that it employs um more than half of all jobs in Indiana do have a connection to the manufacturing sector it's no secret however that the industry has had its challenges from International competitors like China that seek to undermine our us-based companies to the difficulties facing domestic Supply chains the manufacturing sector must have necessary tools to compete in a global economy fortunately AI offers a potential
▶ 3:03:21solution to several of these problems in its applications in American manufacturing AI has been found to reduce costs improve Workforce efficiency and make us States like Indiana better places to do business and I acknowledge that this technology is new and rapidly advancing I am excited by the opportunities it presents uh manufacturers back home as we look to bring jobs back to the United States um Mr Kinder my question for you is
▶ 3:03:51um much of the manufacturing that happens in districts like mine come from it comes from small to midsized businesses when you're engaging and working with manufacturers of this size if you could just uh highlight a few of the challenges that you think the biggest challenges they face thank you for your question and great to meet the fellow hoer uh small and medium-size manufacturers face global competition even though they may you know they may operate in you know Columbus
▶ 3:04:22Indiana uh they and they don't want to behind uh yet for them to be able to invest to keep up uh the pace it's a challenge they uh they don't have the economies of scale and they don't have you know a government that may be completely subsidizing the Investments that they are trying to make and so uh the challenges that I see or that we hear from our customers our small mediumsized customers custers is they want to invest they uh
▶ 3:04:52want to be as efficient as they can but that requires often new processes new equipment new factories new software uh and that's an investment a hurdle for them to get over to be able to invest in what we call digital transformation of which AI is just another uh next step in it now the promise of AI the beautiful promise of AI is it can make our small and Enterprises more compe competitive it can take out some of the costs that they would pay had to pay manually
▶ 3:05:23that larger companies or Global manufacturers wouldn't have is that something that you think R the R&D tax credit could play a part in helping them make some of those Investments I think you tax credits that you know help to support uh investment in R&D absolutely can um so we want our small businesses to remain competitive um and you touched on this a little bit how adopting AI for Technologies and processes can be helpful could
▶ 3:05:53you talk a little bit about Autodesk um how that helps manufacturers access AI what are some of the challenges that are um inherent in adopting that technology and then what steps if any should Congress take um to support our small and medium-sized manufacturers in adopting AI yeah I think what we do at Autodesk is uh in terms of introducing AIS we try to solve specific problems so we look at in you know Industrial Level data finite or
▶ 3:06:23constrained data sets not kind of large uh amounts of data that apply to the manufacturing process and we solve we figure out what the problems are that these small medium siiz manufacturer SP and solve those such as automated drawings we recently rolled out automated sketch constraints when you're building a table or modeling a table and you change the dimensions you want the legs to move too at the same time um that you can do all of that using Ai and it just speeds up it speeds up the overall process great
▶ 3:06:54well um as we work to make the United States the best possible place to to work and build things we also have to look at the resiliency of our supply chains making it easier for companies to adapt when disruptions happen uh Miss humpton can AI play What role can AI play in the optimization of resources and processes within manufacturing Supply chains with the few seconds we have remaining I what I would tell you is that we all know that our supply chain and Logistics experts have become Heroes over the last
▶ 3:07:24few years giving them the superpower to analyze networks and understand where bottlenecks are find Alternatives AI can help them every single day thank you thank you Mr chairman I yeld back thank you m hen appreciate it very much now we'll have a we have the vice chairman of the full committee uh my very good friend and fellow Pittsburgh pirate fan uh Vice chairman Joyce John Joyce thank you thank you do appreciate it
▶ 3:07:54I'll recognize you for your five minutes of questioning first I want to thank you chairman bill aracas for allowing me to wave on to this important hearing as we have covered in several hearings across multiple Energy and Commerce subcommittees the AI Revolution is here and it will ultimately influence so many aspects of our lives with everything from Medical Services to manuf facturing optimization AI adds the efficiency and precision that will allow Americans to
▶ 3:08:24receive faster results and have a more productive and dynamic economy in the changing geopolitical climate that we live in it is critical that we stay ahead of our adversaries the competition for the fastest and most capable AI is heating up and China has made it clear of its intentions to dominate in this America and the Free World can't afford to fall behind and allow the Chinese Communist party to be the
▶ 3:08:54leader in this critical sector for the future of our economy and for our national security fortunately America has a strong Advantage as Tech leader like Elon Musk have said AI could lead energy demand as much as twice of what it is currently and that energy that energy that Elon musk referenced exists today under the feet of my constituents in Pennsylvania the access to energy
▶ 3:09:25and energy infrastructure is the tide that will lift all boats we have already begun to see this in my home state with data center agreements between AWS and Talon energy at the susqu nuclear generation facility and the reopening of Three Mile Island thanks to a purchase power agreement between con station energy and Microsoft these deals will lead to billions of dollars of investment in these communities
▶ 3:09:55and they will provide family sustaining wages jobs that are so necessary they will also provide revenue revenue for schools for libraries for police stations firehouses and hospitals as we look forward to engaging not only our Merchant nuclear assets for AI but the robust Natural Gas Electric electricity generation we have in this country opportunities for Rural America will only continue to grow and grow
▶ 3:10:26we must AI has a large role to play in bringing back American manufacturing president Trump has made it clear in this new golden age of America we need to ensure products are made right here and that family sustaining jobs stay here increases in efficiency and worker productivity that the use of AI will give American companies The Edge that they need to compete and they need to win the faster that we develop Ai and build the needed data centers
▶ 3:10:57the better we can protect our nation's interests and bring back the economic opportunities that America has not seen in the past four years Mr oxman from the AI perspective why is getting our energy policy right important for securing American leadership in artificial intelligence Dr Joyce thank you for the question and and uh grateful to you for highlighting what uh ITI member companies like AWS and uh Microsoft are doing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to
▶ 3:11:27bring this energy discussion to the Forefront because to your question AI is not in a vacuum it exists because of data centers and those data centers are the key to continued us domination of AI Innovation worldwide Data Centers do require a lot of power like all of the other activities that we engage in on a daily basis basis and finding new Energy Solutions including nuclear are key to continued us growth and economic activity around
▶ 3:11:57AI so thank you for raising that issue and thank you for your leadership on making sure that those energy Pathways for data centers are available thank you for your answer Miss humpton in the global economy that Seamans participates we have seen other companies other countries manipulate currency we've seen unfairly subsidized industry we've seen the theft of intellectual property we've seen countries ignore environmental regulations and use captive labor to gain
▶ 3:12:27advantages for their domestic manufacturing how can large companies like Seamans that follow the roles how can they invest and make sure that AI allows you to outcompete these known Bad actors thank you Congressman for that question and in fact first I will say that um the US is Seaman's largest market I like to brag about this we're responsible for about 25% of Seaman's work all around the globe but as you say we are a global company and working
▶ 3:12:58uh in accordance with the regulations and principles that make that truly lift up the role of manufacturing globally in the way it's done AI industrial AI in particular can be essential in making workers in these uh uh developed uh and friendly countries that we work with so closely U to help make all of our workers more productive when we do that we know that we all succeed that we are
▶ 3:13:28in a moment in time when bringing back American Manufacturing in particular and taking advantage of American workers through AI we're going to be able to enhance their ability to produce in a much more efficient way and that makes us far more competitive here and at home and that efficient way will allowed so many Americans to appreciate the new golden age of America I thank all the witnesses for being present here today Mr chairman thank you for allowing me to wave on a yield back
▶ 3:13:59that's a good way to end it so we appreciate you so very much I think that this committee is off to a great start I think my ranking member will agree uh and I want to thank the witnesses did an outstanding job very informative so we'll continue this discussion uh I ask unanimous consent that the documents on the staff document uh list be submitted for the record objection so ordered I remind members that they have
▶ 3:14:2910 business days to submit questions for the record and I ask the witnesses to respond to the questions promptly members should submit their questions by the close of business February 26 so without objection this the subcommittee is adjourned thank you thank you every