AUVSI backs GUARD Act to counter China’s robotics push

AUVSI told Congress on July 22 that China is using the same playbook in robotics that once helped it dominate the U.S. drone market, and urged lawmakers to move quickly on the GUARD Act. The group said the bill would help curb security risks now, before Chinese robotics systems build a larger foothold in U.S. industry and critical operations.

Why it matters: - AUVSI says the U.S. has a chance to stop a repeat of China’s drone-market takeover before robotics systems become deeply embedded in American industry and security-sensitive operations. - The group argues that once adversary technology has a larger installed base, restricting it becomes more costly and harder to reverse.

What happened: - AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on July 22, 2026. - Robbins urged Congress to advance the Guarding the U.S. Against Adversarial Robotics Dominance, or GUARD, Act. - The testimony framed China’s robotics expansion as a national security and industrial competition issue.

The details: - Robbins said Chinese manufacturers used state subsidies, IP theft and deliberate market dumping to drive many U.S. drone makers out of business or keep their market share small. - Robbins said one subsidized Chinese drone maker accounted for 96% of the uncrewed aircraft detected in U.S. airspace before meaningful restrictions arrived. - Chinese manufacturers shipped roughly 90% of the world’s humanoid robots in 2025. - The testimony cited more than $20 billion in Chinese robotics subsidies in 2024-25 and a roughly $137 billion national AI and robotics fund. - Robbins said a compromised robot can expose data and also move, map, surveil or physically disrupt operations. - The testimony pointed to security research that found an undocumented backdoor in a Chinese quadruped platform and Chinese humanoid robots transmitting data to servers in China. - Robbins also noted the Department of Defense’s recent designation of Unitree Robotics on its Section 1260H list of Chinese Military Companies. - AUVSI said the GUARD Act would have minimal near-term impact on U.S. industry because China supplies only about 4% of U.S. industrial robotics imports, or roughly $30 million in 2024. - The group said the bill targets finished adversary systems and control software, not components. - AUVSI said it supports the bill’s explicit protections for NATO allies and Major Non-NATO Allies. - AUVSI’s written recommendations called for adding the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to the review process. - The group also urged Congress to extend allied protections to any future robotics-related Covered List action. - AUVSI asked lawmakers to address adjacent autonomous mobile ground robots that pose similar national security risks. - The group recommended pairing restrictions with the National Commission on Robotics Act, the Magnets Value Chain Support Act and the Make More in America Act. - Robbins said risk-based restrictions are necessary but not sufficient, and argued that the U.S. also needs a serious national commitment to domestic robotics capacity. - AUVSI urged the subcommittee to advance the GUARD Act and Congress to pass it alongside broader investment in American robotics manufacturing, supply chains and workforce.

Between the lines: - The testimony is not only a warning about Chinese technology. It is also a push for a two-track U.S. strategy: block risky foreign systems and rebuild domestic capacity at the same time. - AUVSI’s focus on finished systems and control software suggests the group is trying to avoid broad restrictions that could disrupt supply chains for non-adversarial components.

What’s next: - Congress will decide whether to advance the GUARD Act out of committee and toward passage. - AUVSI is pressing lawmakers to pair any restrictions with industrial policy measures that expand U.S. robotics manufacturing and the workforce pipeline. - The group also wants related protections to be carried into future robotics Covered List actions.

The bottom line: - AUVSI’s message to lawmakers is blunt: act now to limit adversarial robotics risk, or face a harder and more expensive problem later.