According to the Nanhua Morning Post report on July 23, the US's anxiety regarding Chinese technology has expanded to a new area. As Washington Congressmen advance defense legislation, it is proposed that US military forces will be prohibited from deploying humanoid robots manufactured in China.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This annual defense policy bill includes provisions that restrict the use of foreign autonomous systems, due to concerns about national security and data privacy.
According to Article 163 of the bill draft, the Pentagon will be prohibited from purchasing, leasing, or using restricted humanoid robot systems related to designated ‘foreign adversaries’. These ‘foreign adversaries’ include China, Russia, and Iran.
Although this defense bill incorporates key elements of the ‘Guarding the United States from Opponent-led Robot Technology Act’ – which was proposed last summer by John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Committee on China Issues – it does not include the most stringent measures of that act.
According to the full framework of the GUARD Act, Chinese-made humanoid robots and four-legged ‘robotic dogs’ will be evaluated for inclusion in the FCC’s ‘Covered List’. Once included, these robots will lose their wireless communication licenses, which essentially means that their commercial sales in the United States will be prohibited.
Due to the limited scope of applicability of Article 163, which is only applicable to military procurement, Members of Parliament have not made any restrictions on commercial sales.
After being approved by the House of Representatives, Muelleal welcomed the restrictions on the use of Chinese robots by the military. However, he also warned that Washington “cannot allow these machines to dominate in the United States.”
His call highlights China’s growing influence in the global robotics market.
According to a report released by market research firm Counterpoint Research in January this year, last year, approximately 80% of the global shipments of humanoid robots came from Chinese companies.
Major robot developers in the United States — including Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and Tesla — shipped approximately 150 units of their humanoid robots last year.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly emphasized that China has always opposed the US tendency to generalize the concept of national security and to misuse export control tools such as entity lists to suppress Chinese enterprises. The US should stop politicizing, instrumentalizing, or weaponizing economic, trade, and technological issues.
