Intel gets a one-year exemption from the FCC's ban on foreign robots; IDC: because of the ban, US revenue from humanoid robots will be 58% below the baseline forecast by 2030
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Published in SI: . Updated: .
The ban on new foreign robots is already affecting even American factories, and analysts expect it to slow the humanoid market in the US.
On July 28 the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added "foreign-produced advanced robotic devices" to its Covered List: new models cannot obtain import authorization, while previously authorized ones can be sold and updated in software until January 1, 2029. Because the wording was unclear, Intel requested an exemption "out of an abundance of caution", and on October 22 the FCC published an order allowing it to use foreign robots at its US semiconductor plants for one year. These are automated guided vehicles that move along tracks or predefined paths; the exact models are named only in a confidential appendix to the request, and such vehicles are made mainly by Japan's Murata Machinery and Daifuku, according to Bloomberg. By IDC's estimate, cited by Fortune, US humanoid revenue will be 58% (more than $6 billion) below the baseline forecast by 2030, and annual growth about 9% instead of 13%; China's Unitree and AGIBOT account, per the outlet, for about 95% of global shipments.
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