On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission announced the administration’s ban on new imports of “advanced robotic devices” from China, including humanoid and quadrupeds. The ban also extends to China-made power inverters used in batteries and data centers.
The FCC said the ban was imposed because these robots “pose unacceptable safety risks to the national security of the United States.”
Robots that have already been brought to the US before the ban was announced will not be affected by it.
Here’s what smart people in policy, tech, and venture capital are saying about the ban.
Chris McGuire, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
Responding to FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s X post about the ban, Chris McGuire said this was a “very, very big deal.”
McGuire is a senior fellow for China and emerging technology at the Council on Foreign Relations.
He said in his Tuesday X post that the ban will incentivize the US to shore up its robotics supply chains while “preventing China from flooding the US market with cheap robots that also pose national security risks (similar to Chinese connected vehicles).”
McGuire praised the tactic of imposing import bans on specific rapidly growing technologies from China that could pose national security risks to the US.
Rush Doshi, director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations
Rush Doshi, the director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations, called the ban “one of the most significant actions taken so far in support of the U.S. robotics ecosystem.”
Reposting Carr’s X post, Doshi compared the move to the FCC’s announcement last December regarding restrictions on new foreign-made drones.
“The FCC’s drone action was a shot in the arm for the domestic drone industry, and I think this has that same potential in robotics,” Doshi wrote.
Doshi was the deputy senior director for China and Taiwan on the National Security Council under former President Joe Biden.
Peter Harrell, visiting scholar at Georgetown Law School
Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law, called the ban an “important national security move,” adding that advanced robots collect vast amounts of data and are integrated into key industries.
“This should provide a substantial tailwind to U.S. and allied inverter and robot manufacturers,” Harrell wrote on X. He said the move will protect the US market and create space for its companies to expand.
Ramez Naam, founder of Planetary VC
In an X post on Tuesday, climate investor Ramez Naam described the new ban as a “double-edged sword.”
“Short term, the rest of the world will have access to better cheaper hum/quad robots than the US,” he wrote. “Longer term, with luck, US industry will thrive. But China will have advantage of a larger market indefinitely.”
He said that humanoid robots are a “terrible form factor” for warfare and are unlikely to affect defense. But the ban on quadrupeds, animal-like robots that walk on four legs, could have consequences for defense.
Justin Lopas, founder of Base Power
Justin Lopas, the founder of home battery system provider Base Power, gave a nod of support to the ban.
“For those in the know, this is a very big deal,” Lopas wrote on X.
The founder worked in manufacturing and mechanical engineering at SpaceX and Anduril before launching his company in 2023.
David Hansen, cofounder of Westmag
David Hansen, the cofounder and CEO of Westmag, a US manufacturer of drone motors and robot actuators backed by Andreessen Horowitz, wrote in a post on X that China’s robotics industry will shrug off the ban.
“Their entire annual export business, to every country on earth, is what they moved at home in four weeks. We are a rounding error to them,” he wrote.
Hansen added that unless the US builds up its own robotics supply chain, it risks falling well behind China’s booming robotics industry as adoption increases.
“At some point soon, millions of Americans will open Tiktok and watch Chinese robots cooking dinner, folding laundry, and cleaning the homes of ordinary people in Shenzhen. Demand will flip overnight, every American will suddenly want one,” Hansen added.
Ted Xiao, founding member of technical staff at Prometheus
Ted Xiao, a founding member of technical staff at Jeff Bezos’ Prometheus AI startup, wrote on X that the ban would herald a wave of pain for US robotics startups.
“Every single live player in robotics + AI relies on Chinese hardware; the US robotics hardware ecosystem is years behind,” the former Google DeepMind scientist said.
Chris Paxton, innovation lead at Agility
Chris Paxton, an AI innovation lead at robotics company Agility — which is planning to go public at a $2.5 billion valuation — wrote on X that the ban would harm US developers who use affordable Chinese robots as development and testing units for robotics and AI software.
“So lets say I want to start a humanoid company, making brains/software (American competitive advantage). What exactly are my options in the USA, now?” wrote the former Meta and Nvidia researcher.
