Intel has been granted a one-year waiver allowing it to keep using foreign-made robotic vehicles in its US chip factories, after uncertainty over a Federal Communications Commission ban on certain imported robots, Ars Technica reports.
The FCC published its order on 22 October. Intel said it was unclear whether its automated guided vehicles, which move materials along fixed paths in factories, were even covered by the ban, but asked for relief as a precaution. The specific machines were listed only in a confidential appendix; Bloomberg has reported that such vehicles are usually made by Japanese firms including Murata Machinery and Daifuku.
The ban mainly targets new models such as humanoid robots and robot vacuums, but appears to restrict major changes to previously approved devices. The waiver also lets Intel make hardware, software and firmware changes to keep the vehicles running.
Source: Ars Technica AI
