The United States implemented a ban on foreign-made “advanced robotic devices” this week, a move that includes barring robot humanoids and quadrupeds produced overseas from entering the country.
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Tuesday that a federal interagency national security group determined the foreign devices “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.” However, the determination has angered the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, as China is the world’s largest exporter of humanoid robots.
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The ministry released a statement on Thursday announcing that the FCC’s ban would “severely undermine the stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, and seriously disrupt the stability of global industry and supply chains,” according to a translation from the New York Times.
As trade tensions escalate between the U.S. and China over the topic, here’s a look at what these humanoid robots are and how close they are to becoming mainstream products.
What are humanoid robots and what can they do?
Modern humanoid robots are AI-powered machines designed to resemble a human-like structure and perform human tasks. They have largely been marketed as a means to fill vacancies in factory workforces, help with education, and complete dangerous tasks not fit for humans.
In terms of using the humanoid robots in the workforce, as concerns rise among working-class Americans about the possibility of these AI robots to replace human jobs, companies such as Nvidia have advertised them as devices that will “work alongside humans to augment productivity.”
Because the robots are powered by AI, they learn by mimicking human activity and also through virtual algorithms. Therefore, they are built to perform a range of human-like motions and tasks, including walking, talking, making various arm movements, working on factory assembly lines, and doing household chores.
AI companies have advertised the potential for humanoid robots to range from performing chores as a housekeeper to working in clinical healthcare procedure settings to serving as teaching assistants in a classroom setting.
However, many experts have questioned the extent of the robots’ dexterity. University of California, Berkeley, robotics researcher Ken Goldberg said in a Berkley News interview that simple tasks for humans, like picking up a glass, are hard for humanoids to get correct because of the perception it takes to determine the location of and strength with which to grab items.
Humanoids also lack genuine emotion without a human consciousness.
Which companies are developing these robots?
Leading AI and technology companies across the world are investing in humanoid technology research as they race to craft the robotics products.
In the U.S., companies such as Tesla, Figure AI, Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, 1X, and Apptronik are leading U.S. innovation in the industry, according to a Forbes study.
However, China has outpaced the U.S. in terms of its output of humanoid robots, making up about 90% of the world’s humanoid exports, per the BBC, under its companies such as Unitree Robotics, AgiBot, and Galbot.
Are these robots available for purchase in the US? How mainstream are they?
Several Chinese companies, like Unitree Robotics, and some U.S. companies, such as Agility Robotics, have humanoid robots available for commercial sale, though they come with a price tag of anywhere from about $20,000 to six-digit figures. Many are only available through certain channels or only available through pre-order, not through mainstream purchase yet.
Experts have projected that mainstream availability of the products won’t occur until around 2030.
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Tesla CEO and founder of xAI Elon Musk spoke to the proliferation of humanoid robots in an interview this week, predicting an exponential expansion in the number of products over the next half-decade.
“There will be, in five years, probably, there might be, let’s say at least 100 million humanoid robots, but maybe a billion,” Musk said.
