FCC robot curbs and Unitree's IPO split the humanoid market

On 28 July 2026 the US Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices, a category that includes humanoid and four-legged robots, to its Covered List. Equipment on that list cannot receive FCC equipment authorisation, so new foreign-made robot models are shut out of the US market unless they win a conditional approval. Foreign-produced power inverters were added on the same day.

Three weeks later, on 19 August, Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics began trading on the STAR Market in Shanghai. It raised 6.1 billion yuan (about $904 million) at 150.80 yuan a share, touched 1,100 yuan during the session and closed at 845 yuan, 460% above its offer price. It became the first publicly traded humanoid robot maker in mainland China.

Taken together, the two events show the humanoid industry dividing along political lines just as it begins to scale. For organisations planning to put legged or mobile robots into warehouses, hotels, plants or inspection rounds, capability is no longer the only thing that matters. Where a robot was built, who can update its software and whether it can still be serviced in a given market are now procurement questions too.

What the FCC actually decided

The action took the form of a public notice from the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. It rests on national security determinations that an interagency body within the executive branch sent to the Commission on 27 July; CBS News, carrying Associated Press reporting, described that body as a White House task force. The determinations argue that networked robots give attackers ways to tamper with both the data a robot handles and the way it physically moves, creating a supply-chain weakness and a cybersecurity risk to critical infrastructure.

The notice does not name China or any other country; the listing applies to foreign-produced robots in general. For robots, only the Department of War can grant the conditional approval that exempts a device from the listing. For inverters, the Department of Homeland Security can also grant one. FCC chair Brendan Carr presented the move as a way to protect America's critical supply chains.

The restriction looks forward rather than back. According to The Robot Report, it does not affect robots already bought or models that already hold FCC authorisation, and federal government purchases are exempt. A separate waiver from the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology allows devices authorised before 28 July to keep receiving software and firmware updates that patch vulnerabilities or maintain compatibility, at least until 1 January 2029.

Beijing's reply came quickly. By 29 July, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had said protectionism would hurt American companies and consumers rather than make the US more competitive, and said China would take whatever measures were necessary to defend its businesses.

Why a communications regulator decides which robots ship

It can seem odd that a telecoms regulator, rather than a trade or product-safety agency, is setting the terms for robots. The explanation lies in what a modern mobile robot is. Beneath the legs and arms there is typically a networked computer that can exchange data with remote systems and receive software updates from its maker.

That connectivity is what brings robots within the FCC's reach. Listed equipment is barred from equipment authorisation, which is why the measure has been widely reported as an import ban on new models. The lever is not the robot's mechanics but its links to the outside world.

This framing matters because the risk the government describes is not a single faulty part. It is the continuing relationship between a machine and whoever controls its software, a relationship that can change the machine's behaviour long after delivery. The update waiver reflects the same logic in reverse: cutting off patches to robots already in service would leave them less secure, not more.

For buyers, the practical effect is a split between two kinds of machine. Models that cleared authorisation before 28 July remain on sale and can keep receiving security fixes under the waiver. New versions from the same foreign suppliers must either win conditional approval or stay out of the US market.

The conditional approval route shows how the system is meant to work in practice. On 9 September the FCC bureau announced the first approval for foreign-produced robots, covering four Automower robotic lawn mower platforms from Husqvarna Group, which expects to launch them in the US in 2027. The first exemption went not to a humanoid but to a garden machine, a reminder that the rule reaches well beyond the robots that make headlines.

Unitree's listing in numbers

Unitree was founded in 2016 by Wang Xingxing. Figures released through the Shanghai Stock Exchange before pricing show 2025 revenue of 1.699 billion yuan and net profit of 590 million yuan excluding non-recurring items. Overseas customers accounted for more than 40% of revenue and the US for roughly 13%, according to AP.

The product mix has shifted sharply. Humanoids brought in 868 million yuan in 2025, or 51.78% of revenue, and the company shipped more than 5,500 of them. In 2023, quadrupeds had made up 75.78% of revenue. For the first half of 2026 the company forecast revenue of 1.052 billion to 1.128 billion yuan, growth of roughly 36% to 45% on a year earlier.

NBC News reported that Unitree is profitable, unlike most of its rivals, but that its robots go mainly to universities and research institutions rather than into commercial operations. Most of the money raised is earmarked for development: 2.022 billion yuan for intelligent robot models, 1.11 billion yuan for robot bodies and 445 million yuan for new products, plus 624 million yuan for a manufacturing base.

The company is also politically exposed in Washington. In June the Pentagon added Unitree to its list of Chinese military companies, which prevents the US military from contracting with it directly; Unitree says its robots are for civilian use only. The company has cautioned that the FCC restriction applies to its new models and could affect its future US sales.

The question is no longer only what a robot can do, but who controls it after delivery.

Two markets moving at different speeds

The listing puts a price on a lead that is already wide. CBS News cited an estimate that China holds roughly 85% of the global humanoid market and, drawing on Omdia research, reported Tesla and Figure AI each shipping a few hundred humanoids or fewer in 2025, against more than 5,000 each for Unitree and AGIBOT. Omdia estimates that Chinese makers shipped about 18,500 humanoids in the first half of 2026 alone.

That gap helps explain why industry reaction to the US rule has been divided. Evan Beard, chief executive of Standard Bots, praised the rule as among the most forceful security measures in recent US technology policy. Georg Stieler, managing director for Asia at STM, argued it could slow US innovation by cutting start-ups and researchers off from cheap Chinese platforms before comparable Western options exist.

Rueben Scriven of Interact Analysis expected little near-term damage to Chinese companies, most of which have not yet entered the US market. He added that many companies had already anticipated this kind of risk and were aiming their near-term overseas expansion at the Asia-Pacific region. The bigger casualty, in his view, could be the US industry itself: US firms hoping to manufacture in China or elsewhere could be hampered, and that unless domestic makers cut costs and scale quickly, humanoid commercialisation could slow.

The money now reaching Chinese makers adds a further dynamic. With most of Unitree's proceeds aimed at new models and hardware, buyers in markets that stay open to Chinese suppliers can reasonably expect faster product cycles and pressure on prices. Buyers in the US face a narrower field, at least until domestic output or approved imports catch up.

What is disputed or still unknown

Whether the rule is really about China is the first open question. The text is country-neutral, and UC San Diego roboticist Henrik Christensen warned that Canadian and European robots could be affected. The approval for lawn mowers shows the exemption route is usable, but it says little about how humanoids or quadrupeds will fare.

How approvals will be judged is the second. The notice sets out who decides, and FCC guidance lists what applicants must submit. With Husqvarna describing itself on 11 September as the first robotics company to receive an approval, there is almost no track record yet.

Supply chains are a third. Stieler pointed out that key dependencies sit further upstream, in actuators, reducers, batteries, sensors and rare-earth magnets. Restricting finished robots does not by itself remove reliance on those parts.

The security case is only partly public. Robert Little, a robotics business adviser, cited researchers' findings of a backdoor in Unitree robots and of some models sending data to servers in China without owners knowing. The FCC notice, by contrast, frames the risk in general terms, and Unitree maintains its products are for civilian use. Buyers are left to judge specific products largely on their own testing and on supplier disclosures.

Finally, demand itself is uncertain. Omdia chief analyst Lian Jye Su questioned how real demand for humanoids is, and even basic market sizing varies: AP put 2025 global shipments at roughly 15,000 units, while NBC News, citing Omdia, used about 13,000. China has pledged to defend its companies; what that means in practice remains to be seen.

What this means for teams deploying robots

None of this requires organisations to abandon robot pilots. It does mean treating a robot as a long-term software relationship with a supplier, subject to the politics of the markets it operates in.

• Treat origin as a lifecycle risk, not a purchase detail. A model authorised before 28 July can still be sold and patched in the US, but its successor may not be, so check the upgrade path before standardising on a platform.
• Write update rights into contracts. Specify who can push software, from where, and what happens if a supplier can no longer serve your market; the FCC update waiver is set to run at least until 1 January 2029, and nothing guarantees it beyond that.
• Audit data flows before a pilot begins. Map which telemetry, video and site maps leave the robot, where they are stored, and whether the robot can operate safely with outside connections restricted.
• Qualify at least two suppliers for each robot class, and keep fleet management, task interfaces and safety interlocks independent of any single vendor's software.
• Allow time for regulatory approvals. If a foreign-produced model you need lacks authorisation, the conditional approval route exists, but the first robotics approval was announced only on 9 September.
• Weigh any price advantage from well-funded makers against the cost of committing to hardware that an important market may later restrict.