US Congress members urge government departments to investigate Chinese robot company Unitree. It is reported that these robots are currently being used in institutions such as US prisons, police forces, and military bases, but they contain hidden backdoors, referred to as “Trojan horses with cameras”.
On Monday, the US House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Chinese Communist Threats sent letters to the Secretaries of Defense and Commerce, as well as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, stating that Unitree poses an “increasingly serious national security threat” to the United States, and urged the government to investigate Unitree.
The initial report on this matter was published by the US online media outlet “Pirate Wires”.
According to the committee’s letter, Unitree robots come pre-installed with a hidden backdoor named “CloudSail”, which connects to servers in China, allowing “anyone with API key access privileges to enter using default credentials” to remotely control the robots, play videos, or access the system via SSH.
Unitree’s privacy policy stipulates that all user data is stored in China and is subject to Chinese intelligence and cybersecurity laws.
In addition, these robots use voice data recording technology provided by iFlytek, a Chinese company sanctioned by the US for conducting large-scale surveillance abuses of human rights.
The letter pointed out that Unitree currently enjoys exemptions in the US, with multiple American institutions, including prisons, police departments, and military bases, using the company’s robots.
The letter also warned that due to FCC authorization, Unitree’s products can be connected to US telecom networks, and the quantity is significant. As an example, sometimes just one commercial provider plans to deploy 100 Unitree devices in state prison systems, with the ultimate goal of deploying 1000 units.
The US Marine Corps is currently using and testing Unitree’s robots. Unitree’s website indicates that Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Yale University, and Carnegie Mellon University are its partners and customers, while other leading US research institutions such as University of California, Berkeley and University of Southern California have also purchased Unitree’s four-legged robot dogs.
The letter states that due to Unitree’s past involvement in Chinese civil-military fusion projects, Chinese government investment in the company, and Unitree’s role in promoting Chinese defense research, these are reasons why the US government needs to investigate the company.
A committee spokesperson told “Pirate Wires”, “Robots (Unitree) associated with the Chinese military are already operational in US government institutions such as the Army and state prisons. This fact should raise alarms. These robots are Trojan horses with cameras.”
“Every member of the committee – whether Republican or Democrat – has signed this letter, because we clearly see the risks: this is not just a matter of robot technology, but also an issue of Beijing covertly infiltrating critical US systems. We need to take urgent action, blacklist Unitree, and prevent further deployment in the US before it’s too late,” the spokesperson added.
The letter requests to include Unitree in the US Department of Defense’s 1260H list of Chinese military industrial enterprises, the US Department of Commerce’s Covered List, and the US Federal Communications Commission’s Entity List. Being listed in these will severely restrict Unitree from obtaining US government contracts, funding, and integration into US infrastructure (including telecom).
Despite Unitree claiming its products are for non-military use and purporting to be a “civilian robot manufacturer,” the company recently participated in joint military exercises between the Chinese and Cambodian armies, with its B1 robot dog equipped with assault rifles. These scenes were broadcast on Chinese state television CCTV.
Videos of the exercises also showed a Chinese soldier testing Unitree’s Go2 robot dog. Unitree denied selling robots to the Chinese military.
In February, the company’s CEO, Wang Xingxing, was invited to a closed-door meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. This is the highest honor that founders of Chinese technology companies can receive within the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party has listed robot technology as a national strategic priority based on technology and dual-use military-civilian activities.