FCC Pulls Dashcam and Video Transmitter Over Hidden Huawei AI Chip

The Federal Communications Commission has removed two consumer electronics products from US shelves, marking the first time the agency has banned specific devices under a new rule that focuses on internal hardware rather than brand names. The blocked items are a dashboard camera and a wireless video transmitter. Both devices are barred from sale and marketing in the United States because they contain a specific system on a chip manufactured by HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei.

Huawei and its subsidiaries are listed on the FCC's Covered List of entities considered a risk to US national security. The new regulatory approach aims to close a loophole that previously allowed rebranded products containing parts from Chinese manufacturers on US export restriction lists to continue reaching the market. By targeting the silicon itself, regulators no longer need to track every individual product label or model revision.

The specific component at issue is the Hi3516CV610 UHD Smart Vision chip. Designed for surveillance and camera products, the processor combines WiFi, Ethernet, video encoding hardware, and an Arm Cortex-A7 processor. It also includes a neural processing unit, or NPU, dedicated to artificial intelligence functions. The FCC describes the NPU as a device containing logic-bearing smart components made by entities on the Covered List.

According to the chip's data sheet, its Intelligent Video Engine uses a built-in multimodal large model and transformer feature acceleration. This allows the hardware to understand relationships between objects across video frames and maintain attention on related subjects like pets, faces, human figures, and parcels. For consumers, this feature helps distinguish a pet escaping from an unknown person taking a delivered parcel.

The FCC argues that the same logic-bearing AI capability could be used for more intrusive purposes, such as surveying US citizens and logging faces for foreign surveillance. This concern adds to previous controversies involving Huawei, including an incident where the company used shell companies to deceive TSMC into manufacturing AI chips despite US requests to stop supplying certain Chinese customers.

Reactions to the ban have been mixed. Some critics labeled the move as protectionism or questioned whether American surveillance differs from foreign surveillance. Others debated the scope of the FCC's authority, with one commenter noting that the Communications Act of 1934 directs the agency to protect both wired and wireless communications. Another argued that bans should have been based on silicon from the start due to the high number of product revisions and regional variants.