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When the Federal Communications Commission banned imports of advanced foreign-made robots on July 29, 2026, RoboStore’s entire business model stopped working overnight. The company had built its reputation as the go-to North American distributor for Chinese robotics firm Unitree Robotics, supplying robot dogs and humanoid machines to some of the most recognizable names in American research and tech. Harvard, MIT, Amazon, and Nvidia were all customers. Then the supply chain vanished.
Rather than wind down, RoboStore CEO Teddy Haggerty announced a full pivot: the company is transitioning into a domestic manufacturer under a new entity called Robo Inc., with a 66,000-square-foot production facility in Plainview, Long Island. The target is to be fully operational by Q1 2027.
How a distributor becomes a manufacturer
The FCC’s action in late July wasn’t a bolt from the blue. It followed recommendations from a White House-convened interagency body that had been scrutinizing foreign-made robotics on national security grounds. The core concern: data transmission risks embedded in robots operating inside American universities, research labs, and corporate campuses.
The Pentagon had separately designated Unitree as a company with alleged ties to China’s military. Unitree filed for a Shanghai IPO with a valuation exceeding $900 million as of mid-August 2026.
For RoboStore, the math was stark. The company had served over 4,500 customers and had roughly 1,500 active robots deployed across North America.
Haggerty’s answer is to build the hardware domestically. Robo Inc. plans to integrate global component supply chains with American engineering and support services, manufacturing the finished robots on Long Island rather than importing them from China.
What this means for the robotics market
For academic and enterprise customers, the transition creates real near-term friction. Institutions that purchased Unitree hardware through RoboStore for active research programs now operate robots whose supply chain is legally uncertain. Robo Inc.’s ability to support existing deployments while simultaneously standing up new domestic production will be the operational test that determines whether the pivot is genuine or aspirational.
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English (US) ·