Overview
- The FCC on Tuesday added foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots and networked power inverters to its Covered List, immediately barring imports of new models.
- A White House interagency national-security panel found that devices with cameras, sensors, remote connectivity and firmware updates could be used for surveillance, data exfiltration or remote commandeering.
- The restriction covers only new, not-yet-authorized models, leaves existing approvals in place for now and establishes waiver and conditional-approval paths for some suppliers.
- Because Chinese firms dominate global sales of humanoid robots and many inverter makers, companies such as Unitree, Sungrow and Huawei are expected to face the largest market impact while China has pledged to respond.
- U.S. officials framed the move as part of a push to onshore critical AI and energy hardware, a step that could reshape partnerships, affect research and industry users of foreign robots, and influence talks before the planned Trump–Xi meeting in September.