The Chinese Robots Are Already Here - Congress Is Finally Responding

Unitree robots are already on the American market. The company has documented ties to the Chinese military and has never faced a federal restriction. Congress is moving to change that.

House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) introduced the Guarding the U.S. Against Adversarial Robotics Dominance Act (the GUARD Act), which would require national security agencies to review humanoid and quadruped robots produced by China and other foreign adversaries and block those deemed threats from the American market.

"Robots made by China are a threat to national security, critical infrastructure, and American workers. They contain backdoors that can be hijacked for espionage, and our legislation will stop these threats now before China can embed them throughout America," Moolenaar said.

Last year, every member of the House China Committee signed a bipartisan letter urging federal agencies to investigate Unitree, a Chinese robotics company, and consider placing the company on Pentagon and Commerce Department national security watchlists. Under Beijing's military-civil fusion strategy, firms like Unitree feed revenue and technology directly into the People's Liberation Army's weapons development.

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Heavily subsidized by the Chinese state, firms like Unitree can sell robots at prices that undercut American manufacturers, potentially driving domestic competitors out of business and leaving the U.S. dependent on remotely accessible, hijackable, or otherwise repurposed Chinese hardware.

Under the GUARD Act, national security agencies would have one year to review humanoid and quadruped robots from foreign adversaries. Products found to pose security risks would be placed on the Federal Communications Commission's Covered List and banned from the United States. Anything not reviewed within the deadline gets added automatically.

In March, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced companion legislation in the Senate, the American Security Robotics Act, which would bar the federal government from purchasing or operating unmanned Chinese robotic systems outright.

"The GUARD Act is a commonsense step towards protecting our national security, supporting American robotics companies, and ensuring the United States leads in the next generation of trusted robotics technology," said Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), a co-sponsor of the House bill.

Industry groups and American robotics companies are paying attention.

"This legislation sends an important market signal as U.S. robotics companies continue investing in resilient supply chains, domestic manufacturing capabilities, and trusted technologies," said Peggy Johnson, CEO of Agility Robotics. "We believe these efforts will help strengthen America's industrial base and reinforce U.S. leadership in the next generation of robotics."

Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI, said robotics are becoming deeply embedded across the U.S. economy and manufacturing base, making it critical to guard against "high-risk Chinese Communist Party-controlled systems" that could expose sensitive data, create persistent access, or enable remote disruption. He said the GUARD Act would create a framework to identify and restrict adversarial robotics before strategic dependence takes hold.

Beijing has made advanced robotics a national priority and is backing its manufacturers with state money specifically to dominate the market before American policymakers move to stop it. Once Chinese-made robots are embedded in American warehouses, hospitals, schools, and homes, restricting them becomes exponentially harder, politically and practically. Congress stopped Huawei. It stopped ZTE. It hasn't stopped this yet.

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