On October 2, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission exempted two Matic products from its Covered List. The Covered List names communications equipment national security officials have judged an unacceptable risk. The products are Matic Robots’ floor cleaner, model 4MA0001, and charging dock 4DK0008.
Matic sells that robot in the United States as a vacuum and mop. On October 7, the company said the current robot’s wireless hardware was already authorized. This approval was not required for it to stay on sale, the company said. New restrictions apply primarily to future products, it added.
Two models, with conditions
Public Notice DA 26-1063, from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, records a Department of War conditional approval for the two models. The bureau said the approval is a specific determination that the devices do not pose risks to US national security, and removed the models from the Covered List.
Matic keeps the exemption only while it follows the onshoring plan in its application and updated product vetting. With no end date listed, this kind of approval stays in effect indefinitely on those terms.
The notice does not clear the Matic brand or a later robot. On October 5, The Verge reported that Matic ships an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip with its own FCC approval.
Other robotic devices were already approved. The October 2 appendix lists named Husqvarna AB platforms dated September 9, 2026, and named ANSCER Robotics platforms dated September 18.
Matic’s October 6 press release, distributed by Business Wire, called the company the first home robot company and the first American robotics company to secure this approval. The same release said Matic joins Husqvarna and ANSCER as the only robotics companies approved to date. The October 7 blog said Matic is the first robot vacuum to receive the approval, and the only one as of that post.
Chief executive Navneet Dalal said a home robot with cameras “has to earn a level of trust that most consumer electronics never face.” He called Matic “the first floor cleaning robot to clear this review.”
What the July rule covers
On July 28, 2026, the bureau added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to the Covered List. A Department of War conditional approval is the exception. Public Notice DA 26-786 says listed equipment cannot receive a new FCC equipment authorization. Most electronic devices need that authorization before import, marketing or sale in the United States, according to a July 28 fact sheet. The new limits apply to new models. Models the FCC had already authorized can still be imported, sold and used, including devices people already own.
A July 27 National Security Determination, attached to the notice, defines the category. An advanced robotic device can move or navigate on the ground and operate away from a person, by command or sensor data. With any dock, it weighs more than 4.4 pounds. It needs an environment sensor and a network link of at least 200 kbps, or 200 kilobits per second. Software must control navigation, perception, data collection or remote command. The examples include autonomous mobile robots, humanoid robots and quadrupeds.
“Foreign-produced” means the device would not qualify as a domestic end product under 48 CFR § 25.101. It must be manufactured in the United States. US components must also exceed 65 percent of component cost for deliveries in 2024 through 2028. In 2029 that share rises to 75 percent.
Networked robots can be used to change their data and their physical operation, the determination says. Collected data could be used to surveil Americans or to take remote control of the robots.
Assembly and the component test
Matic’s shop says the robot is designed and assembled in Mountain View, California, and that components come from around the globe. The October 7 blog says the company is sourcing more US parts. Nvidia supplies the core compute platform, the blog says.
Matic does not yet source 65 percent of its components from US suppliers, The Verge reported. Mehul Nariyawala, co-founder and president, told The Verge that other critical parts come from US companies when possible. Until about three months earlier, research and production shared a Mountain View building of about 24,000 square feet, he said. That building is now all production. The office is in Menlo Park.
Shipments rose from 1,500 robots a year earlier to 17,000, he told The Verge. “At the moment we might be the only floor cleaning robot built in America,” he said.
The onshoring plan, its milestones and any domestic-content percentage are absent from the public notice.
What the company says about data
The October 6 release says perception runs on the robot, so maps, video and audio never leave the home. The next day’s blog adds that navigation runs there too, and that diagnostic data is shared only if the owner chooses.
On October 15, the shop FAQ still said audio and video never leave the home. It also said Matic never sends data to the cloud for processing. The innovation page says camera feeds, audio, maps and cleaning history stay on the robot by default, and uses the phrase “No cloud.”
Amy Mathews described optional voice and gesture control, Matic Cues, in an August 13 post. After a chime, the spoken command goes to the Gemini API, she wrote, with no user information attached. Wake-word audio and gesture camera data stay on the robot, the post says.
A July 28 engineering notice covers robots authorized before the Covered List addition. They may keep receiving updates that mitigate harm to US consumers, at least until January 1, 2029. It does not say whether that date still applies after a later exemption. Matic’s blog says the October approval does not change how the robot works.
What this means for a household
Matic’s October 7 post said the approval does not change whether a household can buy the robot. The same post said the current robot did not need the approval to remain on the market, because its wireless hardware was already authorized.
As of October 15, 2026, a household in the United States can order this Matic from the company. One robot and one dock is **$1,495**. The shop says it ships in two weeks, and only inside the United States. No confirmed date for other countries appears in the FAQ.
Every robot is assembled in Mountain View, California. Perception and navigation run on the robot, and that camera data and maps stay on the device by default. This matters to owners concerned about data privacy.
Go deeper
- FCC Public Notice DA 26-1063 — October 2, 2026 conditional approval for Matic models 4MA0001 and 4DK0008
- FCC Public Notice DA 26-786 — July 28, 2026 addition of foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to the Covered List
- Why where your home robot is built matters — Matic’s October 7, 2026 account of the approval
