Yesterday, the U.S. government released a document restricting or completely banning the import of foreign humanoid and four-legged robots. The document, presented by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), adds inverters as an additional category to the devices already subject to regulation, in addition to the two types of robots. This ban applies to new devices.

The Federal Communications Commission expanded its list of covered devices to include two new categories: “advanced robotic devices” (defined as mobile robots, such as humanoids and quadrupeds) and, separately, networked inverters manufactured abroad.

The rationale behind this ban is the determination that these products manufactured abroad, regardless of their country of origin, “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of U.S. citizens.” Both the robots and the networked inverters can communicate with the manufacturer via the Internet and be controlled remotely.

On the one hand, the U.S. government aims to reduce the risks of disruption, data theft, and cyberattacks, as well as to encourage companies to purchase these devices from domestic manufacturers. There are currently more than 50 manufacturers of humanoid robots operating in the U.S. and over 100 in China (see this list). The inclusion of these device types in this regulation is clearly aimed at China, even though the phrase “manufactured abroad” could apply to any country.

The FCC also allows conditional exemptions, which may be granted following an application and review.

While American robot manufacturers welcome this measure, U.S. researchers and companies have raised concerns. So far, the latter have primarily been using Chinese robots, as these are already available and affordable. American robot manufacturers, on the other hand, hope to gain a competitive advantage, as they will be protected from the dumping prices of Chinese manufacturers, which are supported by subsidies from the Chinese government.

While the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. called on the U.S. to listen to the objective and rational voices from business circles in both countries, to stop slandering Chinese companies, and to cease threatening them with sanctions, China is considering what countermeasures to take. The Chinese manufacturer Unitree would be particularly affected by these sanctions; its G1 humanoid and quadruped robots are the best-selling robots in the U.S.

The U.S. government’s concerns are not unfounded. Both the G1 humanoid and the G2 robot dog sent data to Unitree and had backdoors built in, as the cybersecurity firm Alias Robotics discovered.

Rumors that Chinese AI models are also to be included in this ban for the same reasons remain unconfirmed.