Trump Administration to Ban New Chinese Humanoid Robots

The Trump administration plans to ban some new Chinese-made robots and power inverters from being imported into the United States. Power inverters are useful devices that help convert electricity from solar panels, batteries, and other renewable energy systems into usable power for the grid or data centres. 

The US government took this step to protect its AI industry and reduce its dependence on China for imported technology. By doing this, the government can prevent possible cyberattacks, data theft, or spying and encourage companies to manufacture these products in the United States instead of China. 

The US is planning to mainly target new humanoid robots, new quadruped robots and new power inverters for the ban. The government believes that some Chinese technology could be used to collect sensitive information or disrupt important systems. However, the ban will only apply to new models that have not yet been approved for sale in the US. 

One major company is Unitree, a Chinese robot manufacturer that makes humanoid robots. Unitree works with Nvidia using its AI chips to power its robots.

⁠Nvidia has said data from the robots will remain in the U.S. and that Unitree’s biggest customers are U.S. academic and research institutions. 

The U.S. is also afraid of repeating what happened with rare earth minerals. China controls much of the world’s rare earth supply, required to make many electronics. Because of this, China has significant influence over global technology supply chains.  

The article mentions Volt Typhoon, a hacking campaign that U.S. officials say was linked to China. Hackers allegedly used internet routers to hide attacks on important U.S. infrastructure. This is one reason the U.S. is becoming more careful about Chinese technology and wants to avoid becoming more dependent on China for robots and power equipment.

Recently, the U.S. has also restricted the use of AI models developed in China, as they are outperforming American models such as OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Anthropic (Claude).