FCC Chairman Brendan Carr explains the humanoid robot import ban, space internet fast-tracking, and new national security lab checks

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on robots, labs, and the space approval backlog

Brendan Carr is moving the FCC well beyond its traditional remit of spectrum and broadcast. The agency is now treating electronics supply chains and import pathways as national security infrastructure, with a string of recent actions designed to reduce U.S. dependence on hardware routed through foreign adversary nations.

Humanoid robots and robot dogs

The most recent move adds advanced robotics to the FCC's covered list, meaning new models of humanoid robots and quadruped robot dogs from foreign adversary nations can no longer be imported or sold in the U.S. The structure mirrors what the FCC did with drones at the end of 2024, when all foreign-produced drone models were added to the list.

The prohibition is forward-looking by design. Existing models remain grandfathered, companies can still source components like motors and batteries from overseas under existing arrangements, and an exemptions process allows categories like toy drones to be carved out. Carr says the $5 billion in new capital that flowed into domestic drone manufacturing after that ban is the template: signal the direction, let the market adjust, then tighten grandfathering over time for earlier additions to the covered list.

“We've added a couple of things to that covered list. We did advanced robotics. So think humanoid robots. Think those quadruped robot dogs. The idea is if you look to the future, those advanced robotics are gonna be key to our economic security, to our national security. And president Trump is looking around the corner and saying, you know what? It's probably a good thing if we don't become dependent from a supply chain perspective on a foreign adversary nation for that stuff.”

Electronics testing labs

Seventy percent of electronics destined for U.S. consumers are currently tested at labs located inside China, and some of those labs have ties to the PLA. The FCC is now inserting national security checks into the lab approval process and removing what Carr calls "bad labs" from the testing pipeline. The practical effect is that passing a technical compliance test will no longer be sufficient if the lab conducting it can't clear a trustworthiness review.

Space application fast-tracking

The FCC's space bureau previously reviewed applications individually through long narrative submissions, a process Carr describes as slow and subjective. The agency has replaced it with an assembly-line model: clear rules of the road, and if an applicant hits defined targets, the application goes on a fast track. The application backlog has been cut by roughly 50%.

Two transactions frame the commercial stakes. SpaceX acquired spectrum to support Starlink's direct-to-device service, which routes connectivity straight from a smartphone to a low-Earth orbit satellite without any ground dish. Amazon is buying Globalstar to do the same for its own direct-to-cell offering. Both deals required FCC facilitation, and Carr says keeping regulatory pace with the current launch cadence is a priority.

E-rate and screen time

The FCC funds internet and internal network connections at schools across the country, running to multiple billions of dollars annually. Carr says the agency is reviewing whether the program's structure still aligns with current research on screen time for children, citing significant declines in test scores that coincide with increased screen exposure. The review is at an early stage, and the transcript doesn't specify what program changes, if any, are imminent.

The thread connecting all four areas is the same: an agency historically focused on airwaves and interference is now running national security screens on hardware, labs, school infrastructure, and satellite access — using its position as the gatekeeper for anything electronic sold in the U.S. as the leverage point.