US House bill bans military use of Chinese humanoid robots

The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) has been approved by the US House of Representatives. This yearly military policy legislation features Section 163, which prohibits the Pentagon from acquiring, leasing, or utilizing humanoid robotic systems from specific foreign adversaries, namely China, Russia, and Iran. This measure originates from the Guarding the US Against Adversarial Robotics Dominance (GUARD) Act, proposed last summer by Representative John Moolenaar, who leads a House select committee focused on competition with China. Notably, the NDAA does not incorporate the GUARD Act's broader provisions aimed at Chinese quadruped "robot dog" systems, which could have restricted their commercial sale in the US by revoking wireless communication licenses through the Federal Communications Commission's "Covered List." By confining Section 163 to military procurement, lawmakers have left commercial sales unaffected for the time being, highlighting the intensifying US-China technological competition that now encompasses humanoid robotics alongside semiconductors and AI.