FCC adds foreign-made power inverters and advanced robots to Covered List over security concerns

The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices, including humanoid and quadruped robots, will be added to its Covered List. The move follows a White House-convened interagency assessment that identified the products as posing significant cybersecurity and supply-chain threats to U.S. critical infrastructure.

Power inverters, which convert direct current to alternating current for solar, battery storage and other distributed energy resources, are deemed vulnerable because their remote connectivity could allow foreign actors to disable equipment, exfiltrate data or conduct cyberattacks as inverter-based resources expand across the grid.

Similarly, the FCC said the networking capabilities and onboard sensors of foreign-made mobile robots could expose critical infrastructure and sensitive data to adversaries or be remotely commandeered.

Under FCC rules, items placed on the Covered List cannot obtain new equipment authorizations required for import, marketing or sale in the United States. Existing devices already owned by consumers or previously approved models are not affected. Manufacturers may request exemptions through a “Conditional Approval” process if the Department of Defense—or the Department of Homeland Security for inverters—determines a specific device does not present a national security risk.

"I welcome these Executive Branch national security determinations, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign produced advanced robotics and power inverters to the FCC's Covered List," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said.

The expanded Covered List now includes equipment and services previously identified from Chinese firms such as Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua, Kaspersky, as well as foreign-made routers and certain drones. The FCC said the new categories are defined by the location of manufacture rather than by individual companies.