The Robots Are Coming!

So you mentioned the various real world, um, applications for humanoids, logistics facilities, that sort of thing.

Um, but we know that they won't be working in the US because the Federal Communications Commission has banned the import of foreign-made humanoid robots, which is basically just a way of banning Chinese-made, um, humanoid robots.

What is the FCC so afraid of?

To quote from the FCC's notice, which not only includes humanoids, but also quadruped robots and all other mobile robots, that also includes robot vacuums.

According to the FCC, these devices contain unacceptable risks, quote, "including that these devices could create supply chain vulnerabilities that could disrupt US economic and national security and could create a cybersecurity risk that threatened American critical infrastructure." But while these existing models can still be sold in the United States, firms will need to apply for exemptions for any new models produced, and that's a major blow to robot makers with existing US sales, like Unitree.

Um, our colleague Noah Berman wrote last year about how Unitree robots are indeed being purchased by police stations in the US and even some branches in the US military simply because they're at a much lower price point and perform well.

You can just go on Amazon and buy a Unitree quadruped very easily.

Unitree's prospectus did disclose that the company earned more than forty percent of its revenue from outside of China and many of its largest buyers are overseas.

So this new guidance is likely to have an effect not just on Unitree's now, um, revenue-boosting humanoid business, but also on many other embodied intelligence firms in China, even something as mundane as a smart robot vacuum.