The Trump administration is expanding its tech crackdown on China.
The Federal Communications Commission announced new restrictions on Tuesday targeting imports of advanced Chinese robots and power inverters, as part of a broader push to secure the domestic AI supply chain.
According to the FCC, the measure would ban imports of new Chinese-made humanoid and quadruped robots, as well as connected power inverters used in renewable energy systems, batteries, and data centers.
The FCC wrote in a public statement that these moves are the result of an interagency national security panel assembled by the White House, which convened to make two National Security Determinations.
“Inverters’ remote connectivity introduces additional vulnerabilities which compound as inverter-based resources proliferate on the U.S. grid,” the panel wrote in the National Security Determinations. “These vulnerabilities could enable foreign firms to turn off the inverters or use them to collect and exfiltrate data.”
“Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots,” the panel added.
John Moolenaar, Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, applauded the FCC’s move and urged Congress to further the policy and codify it into a federal law.
“It is likely that one day robotic technology will be in Americans’ homes and workplaces, and we must protect our country by keeping out Chinese robots with backdoors that share sensitive data with the CCP,” Moolenaar said in a statement.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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