American AI and robotics companies are asking Congress to impose curbs on Chinese robotics manufacturers, citing unfair business practices and security risks.
Witnesses testified before the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, warning that China has developed a troubling lead in humanoid robot technology — small, mobile robots capable of working closely with humans.
Scale AI’s Max Fenkell highlighted a viral video of China’s Unitree Robotics humanoid robots performing acrobatics and martial arts at a Lunar New Year celebration, noting that just 12 months earlier the same robots could barely complete a basic dance routine. He warned that the U.S. may be “winning the wrong race.”
Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA) noted that Unitree robots have been found to contain software vulnerabilities that could allow unauthorized access to live camera feeds or remote control of the devices, and that Unitree bots have been caught transmitting operational data back to servers in China.
Boston Dynamics VP Matthew Malchano told the subcommittee that China already has dozens of companies like Unitree, supported by a national strategy aimed at integrating AI-powered robots into virtually every major industry.
American robotics leaders called for a ban on federal agencies purchasing Chinese robots, the creation of stringent federal standards for the robotics industry, and a bipartisan congressional commission on robotics.
China’s state-run Global Times dismissed the hearing’s concerns as “mounting anxiety and envy,” accusing American companies of exploiting national security as a pretext because they cannot cope with Chinese market competition.
An article over at Breitbart parallels to earlier U.S. concerns about Chinese dominance in drones, solar panels, and EVs — and to the DeepSeek controversy, where China’s supposedly breakthrough AI was found to have drawn heavily from American-developed code and models.
