Lumi in Washington, DC, with the White House and Washington Monument in the background. Photograph: © Lightberry Inc.
Lightberry has cleared one obstacle to selling its Lumi humanoid in the United States. In an October 30 public notice, the Federal Communications Commission named its interactive mobile robots among devices conditionally exempted from the agency’s Covered List. The exemption lets Lightberry pursue equipment certification. It does not establish that a robot is ready to ship.
The distinction matters for a machine designed to greet visitors, take photographs and answer questions in public spaces. A hotel considering a rental needs to know who built the hardware, who controls the cameras and microphones, and who can change what the machine does after installation. A decision about its supply chain answers only part of that inquiry.
What the decision covers
Appendix B of the FCC notice lists Lightberry Holdings’ Lumi Interactive mobile robots under advanced robotic devices, with a conditional approval date of 30 October 2026. The exemption depends on Lightberry following its plan to move manufacturing to the US and on continued vetting of its products. The same table names specific models from ATI Motors and OMRON. It identifies the equipment covered; it is not a blanket clearance for everything a manufacturer sells.
In its 30 October announcement, Lightberry says it replaces the sensors, onboard computer and software. It says its manufacturing plan starts with Lumi’s body, head and hands. Those details are the company’s account of its commitments; they do not establish that the entire machine is already US-made.
Co-founder Stephan Koenigstorfer told Robot Harbour on 2 November that the base platform used for Lumi already holds certification and that Lightberry can now seek certification for the finished robot. He did not identify the base platform’s FCC grant or say that a grant had been issued for Lumi itself. Chief executive Ali Attar gave no firm shipping date in an interview published the same day. Lightberry lists its Founder Edition at $39,990; it has not given Robot Harbour a UK price or service arrangement.
For a UK buyer, the evidence still needed is specific to the machine on offer: the conformity documentation for that configuration, the terms on which it can be supplied and serviced, and who is responsible for software updates and data captured during an event. The US notice establishes none of those things.