Thomas Black

Dallas

Reporter at Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News industrial reporter

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Articles

The US Should Focus on Building Robots, Not Ships

5 days ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

The development of humanoid machines is an opportunity to chip away at foreign dominance and aid US manufacturing. Among the flurry of executive orders that President Donald Trump has signed since Jan. 20, one is titled “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance,” which describes how the US lost its commercial shipbuilding industry to China.
The US Should Focus on Building Robots, Not Ships

5 days ago | flipboard.com | Thomas Black

NowAmid war cries and triumphalism, empathy, pluralism and our very humanity are slipping away. On the night of May 6, India went to bed. In the morning, we were at war. When I woke up on Wednesday at about 4:30am to use the bathroom, the glow of my phone screen caught my bleary eye. Still half asleep, …
A Bold Air Safety Plan Is Now Up to … Congress. Gulp.

6 days ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

He’s right that words are cheap. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Trump administration says it’s ready to take on the massive task of building a new air traffic management system, but the ball is in Congress’ court. That doesn’t sound reassuring given Congress’ poor reputation for getting anything done quickly and then sustaining that effort over several years. Still, this time could be different.
Air Traffic Controllers Could Use an AI Wingman

1 week ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

Hiring more air traffic controllers is only the first step. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The quickest lever to pull to alleviate the strain on US air traffic is to hire more controllers. Even before the wake-up call from the 90-second radar blackout at Newark Liberty International Airport, this hiring effort was ramping up.
Newark’s Blackout Was Just 90 Seconds of a Much Larger Crisis

1 week ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

The floppy-disk era of air traffic control has to end urgently. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Whatever overhaul Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announces this week to fix the dilapidated US air traffic control system, it must include a mechanism to streamline the Federal Aviation Administration’s bureaucracy for rolling out new technology investments. The FAA’s inability to move briskly to install modern equipment and software is at the heart of the Air Traffic Organization’s problems.
Head Of The Port Of L.A. Sees A Brewing Trade Storm

1 week ago | fa-mag.com | Thomas Black

The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest seaport for container freight that supplies retailers and manufacturers, making it ground zero for the disruption of trade caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Gene Seroka, the executive director of the port, is in the perfect position to see the effect of those tariffs on the port and its customers. Here is an edited transcript of our interview: Thomas Black: The first quarter was strong for the port. It’s clear that there was pull-forward going on.
Head of the Port of LA Sees a Brewing Trade Storm

1 week ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

Gene Seroka is on the front line of the trade war. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest seaport for container freight that supplies retailers and manufacturers, making it ground zero for the disruption of trade caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Gene Seroka, the executive director of the port, is in the perfect position to see the effect of those tariffs on the port and its customers.
AI-Driven 18-Wheelers in Texas Have No Room for Error

1 week ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

Look, no hands. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Make no mistake, artificial intelligence took a big leap forward this week. Aurora Innovations Inc. began initial operations of autonomous cargo trucks that are guided by the type of AI that will control mobile machines, which will become more prevalent on roads, in factories and warehouses, and eventually in the home.
Power Tools Should Make You Worried About Prices

2 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

Prepare to pay more. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Manufacturers knew that tariffs were coming after Donald Trump won the presidency in November. Still, they were caught off guard by how broad and severe they have been. The toolkit for mitigating tariffs and protecting profit margins has both short- and long-term options.
Trump Aimed at China and Hit US Small Businesses Instead

2 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Thomas Black

Chinese manufacturers aren’t slowing production. They're selling those wares to countries other than the US. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- President Donald Trump took aim at China with his cannon shot of 145% tariffs and ended up with a direct hit on US small businesses. That’s the takeaway from United Parcel Service Inc.’s earnings conference call, which gave a glimpse of the damage already taking hold across the US economy.