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China’s AI and robotics race just ran into the Pentagon’s blacklist.
The Pentagon has added Alibaba, Baidu, and Unitree to its Chinese military companies list, cutting the firms off from US Defense Department contracts.
All three companies sit in areas where commercial technology and military concerns collide.
What the listing actually blocks
The Pentagon’s case rests on Section 1260H, the law requiring the Defense Department to identify certain Chinese companies operating in the US as “Chinese military companies.”
For the listed businesses, Pentagon business is off limits. Direct Defense Department contracts are barred, and starting in 2027, the restriction also covers purchases routed through outside suppliers.
Commercial activity in America, however, can continue unless other restrictions apply.
Alibaba, Baidu, and Unitree join a growing list
Alibaba and Baidu were cited for alleged ties to the same Chinese state bodies. The Pentagon listed both companies as indirectly affiliated with SASAC, China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and as contributors to military-civil fusion because of their ties to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Both companies rejected the designation. Alibaba said in a statement that there was “no basis” for its inclusion and said it is “not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy.” Baidu called the suggestion that it is a military company “entirely baseless.”
Unitree was cited under a different rationale. The Pentagon identified the robotics company by its legal name, Hangzhou Yushu Technology, and said it is indirectly owned by and affiliated with SASAC and received Chinese government assistance through its “Little Giant” designation.
The update also swept in a wider set of Chinese tech companies, including memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, biotech firm WuXi AppTec, lidar company RoboSense, and electric vehicle maker BYD.
Timing puts pressure on China’s AI and robotics ambitions
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing last month with AI chips, market access, and global tech competition already part of the US-China agenda.
International momentum was building around the affected firms before the Pentagon update.
Alibaba’s Qwen recently climbed an AI coding benchmark, ranking ahead of models from OpenAI and Google. Baidu has been preparing to bring Apollo Go to Europe through a planned partnership with Lyft, with initial deployments expected in the UK and Germany in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Unitree has also been drawing attention abroad. Its humanoid robots recently appeared on America’s Got Talent, giving the robotics company a high-profile US showcase shortly before its name appeared in the filing.
Washington’s action now complicates the global ambitions of Chinese tech firms competing in AI models, autonomous vehicles, and humanoid robots.
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