FCC Blocks Two Gadgets After Finding Huawei-Made AI Chip Inside

The Federal Communications Commission has stopped the sale of two consumer electronics products in the United States. This is the first time the agency has used a newly adopted rule to ban devices based on the specific chips inside them. The blocked items are a dashboard camera and a wireless video transmitter.

Both products contain a HiSilicon Smart Vision system on a chip. HiSilicon is a subsidiary of Huawei, a company listed on the FCC's Covered List of entities that pose a national security risk. The specific chip is the Hi3516CV610 UHD Smart Vision processor. It includes an Arm Cortex-A7 processor, video encoding hardware, and a neural processing unit. The FCC focused its ban on that neural processing unit.

The data sheet for the chip describes an Intelligent Video Engine that runs on the neural processing unit. It uses a built-in multimodal large model and transformer feature acceleration. This allows the device to track relationships between objects across video frames. The system maintains attention on subjects such as pets, faces, and parcels. For users, this feature can distinguish between a pet escaping and a person moving a package.

The FCC argues that the same logic-bearing AI could be used to survey US citizens and log faces for foreign surveillance. The new rule closes a loophole that allowed rebranded products with parts from Chinese manufacturers to remain on the market. By targeting the silicon directly, the agency does not need to track each individual product label or model revision.

Huawei has faced previous scrutiny over AI chips. The company used shell companies to have TSMC manufacture AI chips despite US requests to stop supplying certain Chinese customers. That history has contributed to the current regulatory environment for Huawei-linked hardware.

Reactions to the ban have been mixed. Some observers called the move protectionist and questioned if domestic surveillance differs from foreign surveillance. Others debated the scope of FCC authority, noting that the Communications Act of 1934 covers both wired and wireless communications. Some argued that banning based on silicon was a necessary step given the many regional variants a single product can have.