This autonomous welding robot may be the future of advanced manufacturing

# The Welder Shortage That's Slowing Down American Manufacturing The U.S. needs tens of thousands more welders than it can find, creating a real bottleneck for companies trying to build everything from ships to defense equipment. A startup called Path Robotics is betting that autonomous welding robots—literally robots on robot legs that can weld metal—can fill this gap and keep American manufacturing competitive. The company's founders came up with the idea after their own manufacturing business struggled to grow because they couldn't hire enough skilled welders.