Capability Thresholds and Manufacturing Topology: How Embodied Intelligence Triggers Phase Transitions in Economic Geography

Embodied AI is poised to break a century-old manufacturing paradigm. Unlike previous innovations that optimized within Ford's centralized factory model, AI-driven robotics will trigger phase transitions in economic geography when reaching critical thresholds in dexterity, generalization, reliability, and sensorimotor fusion. This enables demand-driven microfabrication, eliminates geographic labor arbitrage, and introduces "Machine Climate Advantage"—where optimal factory locations shift from...