Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Federal Investigations Into Chinese Robotics Company

The company’s manufactured robots ‘are not just tools—they are potential surveillance devices backed by the Chinese Communist Party,’ Rep. John Moolenaar says.

A dog-shaped robot unit by Chinese company Unitree is presented at a demonstration during the World Police Summit 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 7, 2023. Karim Sahib/AFP via Getty Images

A bipartisan group of 24 House lawmakers is calling for federal investigations into China-based Unitree Robotics, warning that its products pose a national security risk.

The lawmakers sent a letter, dated May 6, to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr.

Led by Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and committee ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-III.), the lawmakers pointed out that Unitree has “well-documented ties to PLA-affiliated institutions and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities.” PLA is an acronym for the Chinese regime’s military, the People’s Liberation Army.

“The fact that PLA-connected robots are operating in U.S. prisons and even within Army operations should be a wake-up call,” Moolenaar said in a statement on May 7. “These machines are not just tools—they are potential surveillance devices backed by the Chinese Communist Party.

“Every single member of the Committee—Democrats and Republicans—signed this letter because we all see the risk: Beijing is quietly embedding itself in our critical systems. We must act now to ban and blacklist Unitree before it’s too late.”

The lawmakers asked the three agencies to conduct immediate investigations into Unitree’s role in advancing Chinese military objectives. And based on their findings, they recommend that the Pentagon designate the firm as a “Chinese military company,” the Commerce Department add it to its “Entity List” to restrict exports, and the FCC include it in its “Covered List” to prevent use in U.S. telecom infrastructure.

Unitree, found by Wang Xingxing in 2016 and headquartered in central China’s Hangzhou city, is known for its product line of humanoid robots and quadruped robot dogs.

According to the letter, Unitree’s robots have been used by law enforcement agencies, correctional facilities, and defense installations across the United States.

In June last year, the Port St. Lucie Police Department in Florida announced on Facebook that its robot dog, which was purchased through a $25,000 grant, was deployed during a narcotics search.

In October last year, the City of Pullman Police Department in Washington state announced on Facebook it had purchased a Unitree robot dog. The department said the robot would assist in multiple policing scenarios due to its features, including its ability to carry 25 pounds and video and mapping technology.

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), a nonprofit trade group, shared the lawmakers’ concerns in a statement issued on May 6.

“The U.S. must act decisively now to prevent a repeat of the drone sector, where reliance on adversarial nation-made platforms compromised our technological edge and jeopardizes U.S. national security,” AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins said.

“Our national security, industrial resilience, and technological leadership depend on eliminating vulnerabilities across the entire uncrewed systems ecosystem. AUVSI applauds the Select Committee for its leadership.”

Concerns

The lawmakers detailed Unitree’s ties to the Chinese regime in their letter.

They noted that Wang, who is Unitree’s CEO, held a “top-ranking position” at a closed-door meeting between the country’s top busines leaders and CCP leader Xi Jinping in February, according to the letter.

Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics in Hong Kong, previously told The Epoch Times that the February meeting was a “tacit acknowledgment that the Chinese government needs private-sector firms for its tech rivalry with the United States.”

Unitree has also been “heavily subsidized” by Hangzhou’s municipal government and supported by the city’s $140 billion Sci-Tech Fund, according to the letter.

The lawmakers pointed out that Unitree has also taken part in military-civil fusion programs and operates from a military-civil fusion hub in the city called Hangzhou High-Tech Zone.

The U.S. State Department states on its website that China is implementing the fusion strategy to acquire advanced technologies through “licit and illicit means” to advance its military capabilities and achieve military dominance.

Citing China’s National University of Defense Technology, the lawmakers wrote that Unitree “is central to the PRC’s AI expansion alongside Huawei and SMIC,” also known as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei and Chinese semiconductor foundry SMIC are both on the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States.

Lawmakers said the “most urgent risk” of Unitree’s platforms has to do with its remote digital access.

“In March 2025, cybersecurity researchers reported that Unitree robots come pre-installed with an undocumented remote access tunnel called CloudSail. This service is enabled by default and silently connects each robot to Unitree’s servers in the PRC,” the letter reads.

Additionally, the lawmakers stated that Unitree stores its user data in China, citing the company’s privacy policy. Consequently, Unitree can be compelled to turn over the data to Chinese authorities under the country’s intelligence and cybersecurity laws.

Unitree’s robots are also connected to U.S. telecoms infrastructure, raising concerns among lawmakers about potential risks to critical U.S. infrastructure from “remote surveillance and data collection” by malign actors, according to the letter.

Other committee members who signed the letter include Reps. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa.), and Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa).

“Whether it’s through police stations or robots planted on U.S. soil, the CCP is getting creative in its ways to embed itself into our society,” Hinson, who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote on social media platform X on May 7.

“Unitree should be banned and blacklisted for weaponizing technology against Americans.”