AI is on track to become a superhuman hardware designer, but design is only the beginning. The interface between bits and atoms is lossy, and turning designs into real hardware gets harder at every level: 1. Sourcing off-the-shelf parts that work together (a 2006 Falcon 1 engine test was delayed by one capacitor, in stock 6,000 miles away) 2. Custom parts, where a master machinist translates CAD into machine instructions 3. Assemblies, where every part can meet its drawing and still not…