On 28 July 2026, the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released Public Notice DA 26-786, adding foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to the FCC’s Covered List.
The Covered List identifies communications equipment and services deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to US national security, maintained under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019.
The robotics listing bars new foreign-produced humanoid, quadruped, and other mobile robot models from the equipment authorisation required to import, market, or sell them in the United States.
A companion listing targeting foreign-produced power inverters was issued on the same day by the same interagency body, signalling a coordinated and accelerating national security campaign.
The FCC confirmed in supplementary guidance that the listing reaches ordinary consumer products, meaning robot vacuums and robot lawn mowers fall within scope if they meet the technical definition.
The agency’s supporting National Security Determination describes advanced robotics as critical to US defence, homeland security, and reindustrialisation, citing concrete security failures already observed in the field.
Among the documented incidents, a remote actor accessed thousands of foreign-produced robots operating inside American homes, reportedly as many as 7,000, including live camera feeds, microphone audio, and detailed home maps.
A September 2025 exploit, publicly reported as affecting fleets of Unitree robots, allowed an attacker to take over a robot and scan for others nearby, raising the prospect of a self-propagating “humanoid botnet.”
An April 2025 report also identified a potentially pre-installed backdoor in foreign-produced robotic quadrupeds, giving remote actors camera access and full control of affected devices.
The definition of a covered device is deliberately precise, requiring a mechanical mobile device capable of locomotion and obstacle avoidance, weighing more than 4.4 pounds, with network connectivity of at least 200 kbps and software controlling autonomous navigation.
Critically, the definition carves out connected vehicles, rail-only vehicles, uncrewed aircraft, FDA-regulated medical devices such as surgical robots, and fixed industrial robots, meaning some products that appear similar may fall entirely outside the listing.
A device qualifies for the “domestic end product” exemption, placing it outside the Covered List entirely, only if US-made components exceed 65% of total device value today, with that threshold rising to 70% in 2029.
A Conditional Approval offers a case-by-case exemption, but only the Department of War may grant it, and the process is framed around onshoring manufacturing commitments rather than purely technical security audits.
Existing authorised foreign-produced robots are not retroactively stripped of their equipment authorisations, but the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology has restricted hardware changes for fielded fleets to a multiyear window.
Days before the robotics listing, on 22 July 2026, the FCC adopted a Third Report and Order closing the “component part loophole,” prohibiting authorisation of devices incorporating hardware components produced by a Covered List entity.
A Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued alongside it proposes hardware and software bill-of-materials disclosures and would cut the R&D import allowance for foreign-produced robots from 4,000 units to just 40.
The FCC’s own Fiscal Year 2027 Agency Performance Plan elevates national security to one of only four agency-wide strategic goals and names robotics and autonomous systems as a priority technology area.
Companies with any exposure to robotics, automation, or FCC-regulated connected hardware should treat this listing as the first step in an evolving, well-resourced programme rather than a single isolated regulatory event.