The updated designation was released weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where both leaders sought to maintain dialogue amid ongoing strategic and economic competition. Trump has subsequently invited Xi to visit Washington in September.

The Pentagon’s revised list identifies companies that the United States considers to be Chinese military companies or entities contributing to China’s military modernization efforts. Although inclusion on the list does not automatically trigger sanctions, it is often viewed as a precursor to potential restrictions on investment, procurement or other business activities.

The new version closely resembles a list briefly published and then withdrawn by the Pentagon in February without public explanation. Two memory-chip manufacturers that had been removed from the earlier version were reinstated in Monday’s update.

Those companies are ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, both significant players in China’s semiconductor sector.

The revised list also includes several of China’s most prominent technology firms involved in artificial intelligence and digital services. Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent were among the companies identified, although Tencent had already appeared on previous versions of the designation.

Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on China, described the update as a warning to American businesses and government institutions. He urged U.S. companies to avoid commercial relationships that could contribute to China’s military capabilities.

The designations drew swift criticism from affected companies.

Baidu rejected the Pentagon’s assessment, stating that there was no factual basis for classifying the company as a military-linked entity. The company said it would pursue all available options to seek removal from the list.

Alibaba similarly disputed the designation, calling it an error and arguing that the company neither functions as a military enterprise nor participates in China’s military-civil fusion strategy. The company indicated that legal action remained under consideration.

In addition to major technology firms, the Pentagon added pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec and robotics start-up Unitree, known for developing humanoid robots.

The updated list reflects Washington’s continuing scrutiny of Chinese firms operating in sectors viewed as strategically important, particularly semiconductors, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies. The move comes as U.S.-China competition increasingly extends beyond trade into areas involving national security, technology leadership and military capability.

Over 70 teams—almost five times the number in 2025—are set to participate in the event, which will feature a more demanding course including paved slopes and parkland terrain designed to test improvements in durability, balance and battery performance.“It will certainly be interesting to see the progress in durability of components and battery lifetime compared to last year,” said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director at a technology consultancy.

He added that manufacturers continue to face pressure to balance product quality with cost as the technology evolves.Organizers said the race marks a shift from last year, when all participating robots were remotely controlled. In contrast, a significant share of entrants this year will rely on onboard sensors and algorithms to complete the course independently, highlighting gains in perception and decision-making systems.

Among the contenders is Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics in collaboration with UBTech. The robot, which won last year’s race in 2 hours and 40 minutes, is expected to run fully autonomously this time, using sensor-based navigation and data-driven gait modeling.

Developers said achieving human-like running speeds presents significant technical challenges due to the limited time available for real-time perception and response. Training footage shared on Chinese social media shows some robots reaching speeds of up to 14 km per hour, though others displayed instability, with occasional falls and collisions.

China remains the dominant player in humanoid robotics deployment, accounting for more than 80% of the roughly 16,000 units installed globally in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. By comparison, U.S.-based Tesla held about 5% of installations.

Domestic firms including AgiBot and Unitree each shipped over 5,000 units last year, with Unitree planning to scale annual production capacity to 75,000 robots.Despite rapid growth, industry experts say humanoid robots remain far from widespread commercial adoption in industrial environments, where precision, adaptability and complex task execution are required.

Current applications are largely limited to research, demonstrations and service roles such as interactive guides.“The reason our applications aren’t taking off is that the robots’ IQ is too low. The models are poor, their success rates are low,” said Tang Wenbin, founder of embodied intelligence startup Yuanli Lingji, speaking at a recent Beijing forum.

The Chinese government has identified embodied intelligence, or physical AI, as a strategic sector to enhance productivity and modernize manufacturing. Companies are investing heavily in data collection and machine learning, often using human workers equipped with sensors to train robotic systems.

UBTech said it expanded the number of humanoid robots deployed in factories from fewer than 10 in 2024 to more than 1,000 last year, and aims to launch 10,000 full-size units in 2026, including models tailored for commercial use, according to its chief business officer Michael Tam.