Intel has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make an exception for the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that the company uses to transport the sensitive silicon wafers and other materials, containers, and supplies needed to make the most advanced chips in its fabs. According to Bloomberg, the American chipmaker fears that its AGVs would fall under the blanket prohibition against foreign-made robots after they were added to the FCC’s Covered List.
AGVs are niche machines that chip fabs use to transport materials and supplies between tools and sections of the fab, helping ensure that the cleanroom conditions required for each manufacturing process are maintained. This makes them critical equipment for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, but, apparently, there are no suitable domestic alternatives for these devices at the moment. Intel’s current fleet of AGVs requires continuous maintenance, including software and firmware updates, and if it’s forced to find a local supplier for its AGVs, the company says that it would take years, crippling the United States’ chipmaking efforts.
The biggest AGV suppliers are Japanese companies like Murata Machinery and Daifuku Co., while a few smaller businesses from South Korea and Taiwan are also trying to break into the market. It’s unclear why these companies haven’t applied for a conditional approval yet, which would allow them to continue selling these products in the U.S. while also promising Washington that they’ll set up a manufacturing base in the country. This is something that Netgear has already done, allowing it to continue selling its foreign-made routers despite being an American company.
Intel says that it remains unclear if updates to its AGVs would break compliance with the FCC, and that it’s asking the agency to issue a conditional waiver “out of an abundance of caution to ensure the ongoing operation of these specific AGV units.” While Team Blue is the only company concerned about AGVs at the moment, other chip manufacturers would likely need a similar waiver in the near future, especially as they build more fabs in the U.S. This includes TSMC, which is planning to build 12 more fabs and four packaging facilities in Arizona, Samsung, with its new Taylor, Texas, fab, and even Elon Musk’s Terafab, which has already begun construction.
Washington has been using the FCC to force companies to invest in American manufacturing. Its blanket bans on foreign-made products like drones and routers have affected some of the biggest brands in the U.S., including DJI and TP-Link. While these bans do not outright ban the sale of all products made by these companies, especially those that have already been approved before, they make it impossible for them to introduce new products and even release software updates to their existing product line. The FCC eventually walked back on the software update ban, but they still would not be able to register new products unless they build them in the U.S.