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Sources and evidence

Check the work yourself.

These are all 86 sources behind The American Breakthrough Scorecard, grouped by chapter, exactly as they appear at the back of the book. Every one was checked in October 2026, and each shows when it was published.

Open any link. If a figure has changed since, the book's final chapter shows you how to update the call yourself.

How the books pick sources

  1. Official statistics and independent bodies first: government agencies, international organizations, industry-wide data.
  2. Formal company reports next: regulatory filings and reported output or delivery numbers.
  3. Company announcements last, and only for what a company says it plans to do, labeled that way.

News coverage can point to a source but isn't used as one. The worked examples in Hype or Here? were checked against company, government, and news sources in October 2026.

Chapter 2: Batteries and Energy Storage

  1. International Energy Agency (IEA), Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle batteries, 2026
  2. IEA, Global EV Outlook 2026: Manufacturing and trade, 2026
  3. Mining.com, report on IEA battery commentary, April 2025
  4. Mercom, report on IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025, May 2025
  5. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, How Innovative Is China in the Electric Vehicle and Battery Industries?, July 2024
  6. Wood Mackenzie and American Clean Power Association, US Energy Storage Monitor release, March 2026
  7. ESS News, China's 2025 storage additions (CNESA data), January 2026
  8. Energy-Storage.News, Google and Xcel iron-air battery announcement, March 2026
  9. QuantumScape, Eagle Line inauguration, February 2026
  10. Panasonic, Kansas factory opening, July 2025
  11. Tesla North, Megapacks with American-made LFP cells, July 2026
  12. ESS News, Natron Energy ceases operations, September 2025
  13. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, federal EV credit changes, July 2025

Chapter 3: Chips and Semiconductors

  1. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), 2026 State of the Industry Report, July 2026
  2. SIA, testimony to the US Senate, March 2026
  3. SIA and Boston Consulting Group, Emerging Resilience in the Semiconductor Supply Chain, 2024
  4. SIA, 2025 Factbook, May 2025
  5. SIA, 2025 global sales release, February 2026
  6. Emerging Technology Observatory, The state of global chip research, March 2025
  7. TrendForce, advanced capacity outlook, March 2025
  8. The Register, first Blackwell wafer in Arizona, October 2025
  9. TrendForce, TSMC Arizona plans, December 2025
  10. Intel, Panther Lake and Fab 52, October 2025; The Register, Panther Lake launch, January 2026
  11. TrendForce, Samsung Taylor status, September 2026
  12. Amkor, Arizona campus Phase 2, September 2026
  13. US International Trade Administration, Japan semiconductors guide
  14. CSIS, export controls and equipment makers, November 2024
  15. US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Gallium, 2026
  16. Stimson Center, China's germanium and gallium restrictions, March 2025; Engineering News, China suspends export ban, November 2025

Chapter 4: AI and Humanoid Robots

  1. Stanford HAI, AI Index 2026, Chapter 1: Research and Development, 2026
  2. The Next Web, AI Index 2026 performance gap and investment, April 2026
  3. Epoch AI, GPU cluster performance by country, June 2025
  4. International Federation of Robotics, World Robotics 2025, September 2025
  5. Forbes, humanoid shipments (Omdia data), January 2026
  6. Electrek, Tesla Optimus update, October 2026
  7. Adamas Intelligence, rare earth restrictions and Optimus, April 2025
  8. The Robot Report, Digit at GXO, June 2024; AI2Work, Digit tote count, July 2026
  9. BMW Group, Figure robots at Spartanburg, June 2026

Chapter 5: Electric Trucks and Vehicles

  1. IEA, Global EV Outlook 2026: Executive summary, 2026
  2. IEA, Global EV Outlook 2026: Trends in other EV modes, 2026
  3. EV Infrastructure News, IEA charger counts, May 2026
  4. EVwire, Cox Automotive Q3 2026 EV sales, October 2026
  5. Mayer Brown, Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs, May 2024
  6. Electrek, Tesla Semi factory, September 2026
  7. Electrek, Waymo expansion, July 2026
  8. CleanTechnica, Apollo Go milestones, February 2026
  9. BYD, Super e-Platform, March 2025
  10. Daimler Truck, eCascadia series production, May 2022

Chapter 6: Nuclear Power

  1. IEA, Global Energy Review 2026: Nuclear, 2026
  2. GRS, Nuclear energy worldwide 2026, February 2026
  3. US Energy Information Administration, world nuclear capacity, August 2025
  4. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Achieving Fusion Ignition
  5. US Department of Energy, first advanced reactor criticality, June 2026; RealClearEnergy, Reactor Pilot Program, July 2026
  6. TerraPower, Natrium construction permit, March 2026
  7. China Daily, HTR-PM commercial operation, December 2023
  8. CleanTechnica, Vogtle Unit 4, May 2024
  9. Centrus Energy, Annual report (Form 10-K) for 2025, 2026
  10. Urenco, US enrichment expansion, May 2025
  11. OODA Loop, SPARC magnet installation, May 2026

Chapter 7: Aviation and Space

  1. SpacePolicyOnline, Starship achieves orbit, September 2026
  2. BryceTech, Orbital Launches 2025, 2026
  3. Payload, 2025 launch attempts by country, January 2026
  4. The Next Web, 2023 orbital launches, January 2024
  5. Forecast International, Airbus and Boeing 2025 deliveries, January 2026
  6. AirData News, C919 deliveries, 2025
  7. AP via Herald-Palladium, Artemis II launch, April 2026; DOGOnews, Artemis II splashdown, April 2026
  8. Orbital Radar, satellites by country, September 2026
  9. Unmanned Airspace, EHang operating certificates, March 2025
  10. Arabian Business, Dubai air taxi network, September 2026

Chapter 8: Advanced Materials

  1. US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare Earths, 2026
  2. IEA, export controls and supply concentration, October 2025
  3. Mining Weekly, MP Materials and the Pentagon, July 2025
  4. MP Materials, Quarterly report (Form 10-Q), Q2 2026, 2026
  5. VAC / eVAC Magnetics, Sumter facility opening, July 2026
  6. CompositesWorld, 2025 carbon fiber market, June 2026
  7. Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Critical Technology Tracker update, March 2026

Chapter 9: The Power Grid and Telecom Networks

  1. Grid Strategies and Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Fewer New Miles 2025 (revised), July 2025
  2. T&D World, Wood Mackenzie transformer study, August 2025
  3. POWER magazine, electrical steel shortage, May 2023
  4. The Edge Singapore, China's record grid spending, February 2026
  5. eeNews Europe, 1,100 kV UHVDC line, July 2016
  6. GreyB, 5G patent landscape, February 2026
  7. Fiber Broadband Association, US fiber passings, April 2026
  8. Electronics360, China's 5G base stations, September 2025
  9. Federal Communications Commission, Public Notice DA 26-14, January 2026
  10. Hitachi Energy, SunZia inauguration, June 2026

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