While security concerns are legitimate, American robotics companies rely on Chinese hardware THE US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Jul 28 added foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots to its “Covered List”, effectively barring new import authorisations for these devices.
No country is named in the order, but the target is unmistakable: China, which controls an estimated 85 per cent of the global humanoid robot market and is home to the sector’s dominant players, including Unitree, AgiBot and UBTech.
It’s worth being precise about what the ban actually does. It applies only to new device models seeking FCC authorisation going forward; it does not recall robots Americans already own, and it does not stop companies from continuing to sell models cleared before the order took effect.