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The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has added all foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters to the Covered List, cutting off equipment authorization
This is a country-of-production rule, not an entity list. Nobody has to be accused of anything for their hardware to become unauthorizable in the United States.
Bottom line: Binding and effective now. The Public Notice updates the Covered List maintained under section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, and under existing rule 47 CFR 2.903(a) covered equipment is prohibited from receiving equipment authorizations.
Who this affects: Hardware compliance managers and regulatory affairs counsel at robotics manufacturers and importers; Telecommunication Certification Bodies and test labs; solar and storage integrators specifying inverters; general counsel at firms deploying warehouse and service robots.
Issue date: Released and issued July 28, 2026. The two National Security Determinations behind it were sent to the FCC on July 27, 2026. No comment deadline: this is an announcement, not a proposal.
What changed: The Covered List gains two category entries dated July 28, 2026: foreign-produced power inverters, and foreign-produced advanced robotic devices, each subject to a Conditional Approval carve-out.
Analysis: The Bureau states plainly that these entries will not trigger the rules aimed at entities identified on the Covered List, because the new equipment is identified by place of production rather than by company. That distinction decides which of the FCC's supply chain rules bite and which do not.
Primary sources: Public Notice DA 26-786 (text) · FCC document page
- Instrument (EN)
- FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Announces Addition of Foreign-Produced Power Inverters and Advanced Robotic Devices to FCC Covered List
- Authority
- Federal Communications Commission, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Status
- Released and in effect
- Bindingness
- Binding. Covered equipment cannot receive an FCC equipment authorization under 47 CFR 2.903(a)
- Issue date / next deadline
- Released July 28, 2026. No comment period
- Document number
- DA 26-786
- Dockets
- WC 18-89, ET 21-232, EA 21-233
- Primary source
- https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-786A1.txt
Two determinations, one Public Notice
The White House convened an Executive Branch interagency body with national security expertise, and on July 27, 2026 that body sent the FCC two National Security Determinations. One covers power inverters. The other covers advanced robotic devices.
On the Bureau's account, its role here is not discretionary. It finds that each determination is a specific determination under section 2 of the Secure Networks Act, 47 U.S.C. 1601(c), and concludes that the Commission is therefore required to place the identified equipment on the Covered List.
The inverter determination describes remote connectivity as the vector, warning that vulnerabilities could let foreign firms turn off the inverters or use them to collect and exfiltrate data, facilitate remote access and surveillance by foreign government actors, or be otherwise exploited through a cyberattack.
Why the robotics entry matters to AI buyers
The robotics determination quoted in the Public Notice frames the risk in terms of networked capability. It states that the networked capabilities of advanced robotic systems create extensive vulnerabilities and vectors for attacks that can manipulate the data and physical operation of the advanced robotic system.
It goes further on data. Advanced robotic devices, the determination says, collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or remotely commandeer the robots.
The Covered List entry itself is broad: foreign-produced advanced robotic devices, except advanced robotic devices which have been granted a Conditional Approval by the Department of War. The underlying determination puts it as all foreign-produced advanced robotic devices, unless the Department of War transmits to the FCC a specific determination that a given device, or a class of such devices, does not pose such risks.
The Conditional Approval route
There is an exit, and it is administrative. The interagency body has established a process under which a producer of inverters or advanced robotic devices in a foreign country can request an evaluation and receive a Conditional Approval that exempts the device from the Covered List.
The evaluating agency differs by category. For power inverters, either the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security may evaluate submissions. For advanced robotic devices, only the Department of War.
Applicants must supply what the relevant Guidance Document asks for, and the Bureau commits to updating the Covered List further if it receives such a determination.
What this does to an equipment authorization filing
Section 2.903(a) prohibits covered equipment from receiving equipment authorizations. Section 2.911(d)(5)(i) requires every authorization applicant to certify that its equipment is not prohibited from authorization by virtue of being covered equipment.
So the practical effect lands on the certification line of an existing form. An applicant certifying under 2.911 is now also certifying that its device is not within the two new categories.
The Bureau adds a clarification that limits the blast radius: because the newly covered equipment is identified by place of production rather than by entity, the updates do not implicate the various rules and programs that apply to entities identified on the Covered List. It also notes that Commission staff will provide guidance to Telecommunication Certification Bodies, test labs and applicants.
Where this sits in a longer sequence
The July 28 additions are not the first category-based entries. The Covered List already carried foreign-produced uncrewed aircraft systems and their critical components, with carve-outs tied to the Blue UAS Cleared List and the Buy American Standard, and it added foreign-produced routers on March 23, 2026.
Read together, the pattern is a shift away from naming companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua, and toward naming device classes by where they are made.
For anyone building physical AI products, that is the planning signal. Category entries arrive without a named respondent, and the remedy is a per-device or per-class approval rather than a challenge to a finding about your company.
What we did not verify
Opened: the full text of Public Notice DA 26-786 as posted by the FCC, including the body, the footnotes and Appendix A with the updated Covered List and its dates of inclusion, plus the FCC document landing page confirming a July 28, 2026 release.
Not opened: Appendix B and Appendix C, the two National Security Determinations themselves, which the text file did not render. That means we have not read the operative definitions of foreign-produced, power inverters or advanced robotic devices, and we do not reproduce them here. We also did not open the Guidance Documents for Conditional Approvals or the FAQ page the FCC links.
We do not claim to know which robots fall inside the definition, nor whether any Conditional Approvals have been granted. Anyone scoping a product line needs the appendix definitions, not this summary.
Robotics and inverter suppliers should treat FCC equipment authorization as a gating item rather than a formality, and should read the Appendix definitions before assuming a product is outside the categories. The only stated path back for a foreign-produced device is a Conditional Approval from the Department of War, or from Homeland Security in the inverter case. Nothing in the Public Notice offers a transition period.
Source File
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-786A1.txt
Open Public Notice DA 26-786 and confirm the July 28, 2026 release date, the two July 27, 2026 National Security Determinations, and the two new Appendix A rows dated July 28, 2026.
Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots. * Advanced Robotic Devices National Security Determination, quoted in FCC Public Notice DA 26-786, July 28, 2026
FAQ
Does this ban selling robots in the United States?
The Public Notice addresses FCC equipment authorization. Under 47 CFR 2.903(a), equipment on the Covered List is prohibited from receiving an authorization, and applicants must certify under 2.911(d)(5)(i) that their equipment is not covered.
Is there any way to be exempted?
Yes. The interagency body established a Conditional Approval process. For advanced robotic devices the Department of War evaluates the submission; for power inverters either the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security may.
Does being on the Covered List make my company a listed entity?
Not for these two categories. The Bureau states that because the equipment is identified by place of production rather than by entity, the rules and programs applicable to entities identified on the Covered List are not implicated.
Which docket numbers govern this?
WC Docket No. 18-89, ET Docket No. 21-232 and EA Docket No. 21-233, as listed on the face of DA 26-786.
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