Once again, they’re hyping so-called “security risks,” as U.S. lawmakers introduce a bill aiming to ban Chinese robots.

Ask AI · How does this robot ban relate to the U.S.’s other recent restrictions on China?

【Global Times reports】According to a report by the U.S. “The Hill” on the 26th, two U.S. senators introduced a bill aimed at banning the federal government from procuring or using robots and related equipment manufactured by Chinese companies.

Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Chuck Schumer, the minority leader of the Senate and a Democratic Party lawmaker, introduced the “American Secure Robot Technology Act.” Its core provisions clearly prohibit the federal government from procuring or using “ground unmanned vehicles” manufactured by rival countries such as China, covering devices including humanoid robots and remote surveillance robots. The bill also strictly forbids the use of federal funds for projects related to such robots. The proposal includes exemption clauses allowing U.S. military and law enforcement agencies to carry out related research on Chinese-made robots, provided that these robots do not send or receive data to or from China.

The two U.S. senators also invoked what they said are “national security risks,” claiming that Chinese robots may have security backdoors. They asserted that not only could such robots be used to collect relevant U.S. data and transmit it back to China, but they also face the risk of being remotely hijacked. They also said that Chinese companies are trying to “flood the U.S. market with their own technology” in the robotics field, which poses “real security risks and threats to the privacy of the American public, as well as to U.S. research and industry.” According to the report, Republican U.S. Representative Stefanie Nick plans to introduce a House version of the proposal in parallel.

This is the latest move by the United States attempting to restrict Chinese technology products. Earlier this week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission had added imported consumer-grade routers to a list of items under regulation. Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense also placed several technology companies—including Chinese robot companies—on a blacklist on the grounds that they are “involved in the military.”

On the 27th, Li Xiangang, chairman of the Beijing Zhongguancun Information Consumption Industry Alliance, told a reporter from the Global Times that the United States is trying to restrict the use of Chinese robot products under the pretext of “maintaining national security,” but in essence it is unable to address the deeper problems behind its own industrial development. Robot technology has broad application scenarios, spanning multiple fields such as manufacturing, logistics, and services. In essence, it is an industry that is highly dependent on open cooperation. China has advantages in a more complete ecosystem and industrial chain, and with broad application scenarios, ongoing policy support, efficient industrial coordination, and ample talent reserves, it has stronger momentum for technology implementation and scale expansion. If competition is handled in a closed and exclusive manner, it can only weaken its own capacity for technological iteration, and in the long run may cause it to fall out of step with global industry development trends. (Li Xunding Ma Tong)