Letter to Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Lutnick, and Chairman Carr

The Honorable Pete Hegseth

Secretary of Defense

U.S. Department of Defense

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301

The Honorable Howard Lutnick

Secretary of Commerce

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Ave NW

Washington, DC 20230

The Honorable Brendan Carr

Chairman

Federal Communications Commission

45 L Street NE

Washington, DC 20554

Dear Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Lutnick, and Chairman Carr:

We are writing to urge you to examine risks associated with robotics manufacturers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that pose a growing national security threat through direct support to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). An illustrative concern is Unitree, a company with well-documented ties to PLA-affiliated institutions and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities. Reporting indicates that Unitree has participated in military-civil fusion programs, received PRC state funding, contributed to defense research, and produces robotic systems with clear military utility—including autonomous mobility, surveillance, and payload capabilities. We respectfully request that the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, and Federal Communications Commission investigate Unitree’s role in advancing PRC military objectives and based on those findings, consider designating it under Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (FY21 NDAA), adding it to the Entity List, and including it on the Covered List. 

The PRC’s strategic push into AI and robotics is explicitly tied to the PLA. National, initiatives such as Made in China 2025 and the Robotics + Action Plan prioritize dual-use technology, automation, and intelligent systems to support military modernization. Unitree appears to exemplify how this strategy is executed—bridging civilian and military tech pipelines. Unitree’s CEO Xingxing Wang appeared in a February 2025 closed-door CCP meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping, seated in a top-ranking position.4 The firm is heavily subsidized as one of Hangzhou’s “six little dragons,” while also being backed by the city’s $140 billion Sci-Tech Fund and benefiting from its rapidly growing $21 billion robotics sector. It operates from the Hangzhou High-Tech Zone—a designated military-civil fusion hub—and has received multiple rounds of government support, including critical emergency funding that  “br[ought] it back to life” when facing collapse. According to the PRC’s National University of Defense Technology, Unitree is central to the PRC’s AI expansion alongside Huawei and SMIC, strategically positioned to integrate its technology across government, telecommunications, and military infrastructure.

Unitree’s sales in the PRC confirm its defense relevance. The company has sold robots to Beihang University and North University of China, both known for missile, aerospace, and weapons research. It has also supplied platforms to PRC police for monitoring and surveillance activities. In 2024, a Unitree robot equipped with a rifle was featured in PLA-Cambodian joint military exercises, with PLA officers confirming its intended role in combat operations. Separately, Unitree’s B2 platform has been upgraded with military-grade thermal imaging, 240kg payload capacity, and rugged mobility for complex battlefield use. Its resemblance to the PLA’s “Machine Wolf”—developed by China South Industries Group and Chongqing Jianshe Industry—has fueled speculation of technology sharing. Unitree and Jianshe signed a formal partnership in 2025, linking the firm to PRC’s military supply chain.

Perhaps the most urgent risk to these platforms is 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. It appears that anyone with access to the API key can tunnel into a robot, stream video, or access systems via SSH—using default credentials. Researchers identified 1,900 connected robots with no disclosure to end users and no authentication barriers. As the authors of this report put it, while “[t]he use of such tunnel services do have a wide aspect of legitimate use-cases, the concerning thing is running such a service without user-knowledge. In this case, as this service is installed and operated without user consent, we clearly need to label it [a] backdoor.”

Unitree’s privacy policy confirms that user data is stored in the PRC21 and thus subject to PRC intelligence and cybersecurity laws, which compel compliance with state security demands. The company also uses iFlytek—sanctioned by the U.S. Government for mass surveillance—to process voice data. Separate academic research has shown Unitree robots can be hacked to override safety systems and conduct covert surveillance.

PLA-connected Unitree robots now operate within sensitive American institutions. With direct ties to Beijing’s defense apparatus, these systems have been utilized by law enforcement agencies, correctional facilities, and defense installations across the country. One commercial vendor alone plans to deploy 100 units in a state prison system, ultimately targeting 1,000 installations. Further compounding this risk, Federal Communications Commission equipment authorizations allow these devices to connect to U.S. telecommunications networks, potentially exposing critical infrastructure to remote surveillance and data collection by PLA-affiliated technology.

Your agencies have the authority to address this threat. We urge immediate investigation and, as appropriate, corresponding designations to prevent further utilization of PLA-linked technology in critical U.S. infrastructure and security systems.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Signed, 

Chairman, John Moolenaar

Ranking Member, Raja Krishnamoorthi

Rep. Rob Wittman

Rep. Andy Barr

Rep. Dan Newhouse

Rep. Darin LaHood

Rep. Dr. Neal Dunn

Rep. Dusty Johnson 

Rep. Ashley Hinson

Rep. Kathy Castor

Rep. Andre Carson

Rep. Seth Moulton

Rep. Ro Khanna

Rep. Mikie Sherrill

Rep. Haley Stevens

Rep. Ritchie Torres

Read the full letter HERE.