U.S. Officials Believe Chinese Robots Could Pose A Security Threat. Their Sales Have Been Banned

Federal authorities have banned new imports of foreign made "advanced robotic devices," calling them a national security risk, a move widely seen as focused on those made in China.

ABC News reported that the country is by far the leader in the development of humanoid robots with an estimated market share of about 85 percent.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the decision, saying that the robots and inverters "pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons."

According to the FCC, an interagency body determined that devices could create supply chain vulnerabilities and were a cybersecurity risk that threatened American critical infrastructure.

"The lack of a secure U.S. supply chain for inverters and the continuous inflow of foreign-produced or controlled inverters and inverter components poses threats to U.S. economic and national security," the security assessment states.

"Inverters' remote connectivity introduces additional vulnerabilities which compound as inverter-based resources proliferate on the U.S. grid. These vulnerabilities could enable foreign firms to turn off the inverters or use them to collect and exfiltrate data, facilitate remote access and surveillance by foreign government actors, or be otherwise exploited through a cyberattack," it adds.

Similarly, the assessment warned that advanced robotic systems can create extensive vulnerabilities. Specifically, the assessment stated that advanced robotic devices collect data that hostile actors could use to surveil Americans and enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services. Another security risk involved the potential for someone to take control of the robots remotely and commandeer them.

"I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign produced advanced robotics and power inverters to the FCC's Covered List," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said. "The FCC will continue to do our part to secure America's critical supply chains and, with today's action, the FCC is acting in lock step with our national security agencies to do just that."

The restriction does not apply to people who already bought devices and it doesn't prevent retailers from selling items that the FCC previously authorized. Rather, the change imposes restrictions on new device models.

ABC News noted that the ban follows several actions taken by the U.S. that also seemed to target Chinese products. For example, previous bans focused on drones and exports of products that contained advanced U.S. technology.

"It's a steady drumbeat of potential flashpoints heading into (the) Trump-Xi summit planned for September," Samm Sacks, a senior fellow at the New America think tank told ABC News.

The network reported that Chinese manufacturers had been scaling up production as analysts have predicted the humanoid robot market could hit $15 billion by 2030.

"Restricting their access to the U.S. removes an important future market and protects U.S. developers from potential price competition," analyst Kangyuxiao Li at Morningstar told ABC News. "However, it will not materially slow China's overall humanoid development, given the size of its domestic manufacturing base and opportunities in other export markets."