Trump administration bans new Chinese humanoid robots to protect AI development in the US

“The FCC will continue to do its part to protect America’s critical supply chains,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr added in a press release. China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Humanoid robots, equipped with AI-based “brains,” are expected to be widely adopted in the consumer and industrial sectors, according to analyst predictions. At the same time, the rapid expansion of data centers in the US will depend on reliable sources of power inverters. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Chinese AI companies could face US sanctions for alleged theft of American intellectual property. North American authorities also seek to avoid a scenario similar to that of rare earth minerals — essential inputs for the manufacture of technologies and largely controlled by China. Beijing has used this dominance to gain advantages on the international stage. FCC should exempt non-Chinese suppliers After the measures announced this Tuesday, the expectation is that the FCC will exempt many non-Chinese suppliers from restrictions, as it did with recent bans involving foreign drones and routers, according to four sources interviewed by Reuters. The measures came into force as soon as they were published and only apply to robot and inverter models that have not yet reached the market. However, the FCC also has the authority to revoke sales authorizations for models already approved for sale in the USA. President Donald Trump is seen as responsible for increasing international attention on the technological challenge posed by China during his first term, by reinforcing concerns about the theft of intellectual property by Chinese companies and possible cases of state espionage involving Chinese telecommunications giants, such as Huawei. But so far, Trump has taken a more moderate approach in his second term, despite Beijing's aggressive use of export controls on rare earth minerals last year. Chinese robot manufacturer in the crosshairs The expectation is that the ban will affect Unitree, the world leader in the segment of humanoid robots, with just under a fifth of the global market share, according to Counterpoint Research. The company, one of three Chinese companies dominating an emerging and rapidly expanding sector, was recently added to the Pentagon's list of alleged Chinese companies backed by the military, a possible sign of tougher US action. Unitree recently partnered with Nvidia to use the AI ??chipmaker's next-generation Blackwell chip as the “brain” of one of its robots. Nvidia said the data collected by the robots will remain in the US and that Unitree's main customers are American academic and research institutions. Advocates of a tougher stance toward China fear that robots could be used to spy on strategic U.S. sectors, collecting data for Beijing or compromising essential functions. The robots “collect data that could be used by malicious actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or take remote control of equipment,” the FCC said on Tuesday. China is the world's largest manufacturer of inverters, with the sector led by Sungrow Power Supply and Huawei, companies that are already subject to heavy US sanctions. Beijing has been expanding its presence in the Western inverter market by reducing prices. Unitree, Sungrow and Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.