Robot vacuums have become an unexpected target of a new US national-security policy on advanced robotics. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added foreign-made advanced robotic devices to its Covered List, preventing many new devices in the category from receiving the authorization required for sale in the United States. Although much of the initial attention focused on humanoid and quadruped robots, the definition is broad enough to include a much more familiar household device: the robot vacuum. The change does not mean Americans need to stop using their current robot vacuums. Previously authorized models can continue to be imported and…
Last September, Release Notes 231 introduced the Icecat MCP Server in Beta. At the time, its functionality was straightforward: when an AI agent supplied a product code and brand name, the server could return the corresponding product information. Since then, the MCP Server has expanded considerably. It now offers nineteen tools and is listed in the official public MCP Registry. More importantly, after almost a year of real-world usage, we now have enough data to answer one of the questions we hear most often: how are partners actually using it? We reviewed usage statistics on an account-by-account basis and spoke…
