DJI fights drone ban with letters to U.S. leaders

Is the Trump administration about to be the Grinch that stole sales of most drones just before Christmas?

There’s a Dec. 23 deadline looming for DJI, which makes 90 percent of the world’s drones, to pass an audit from the U.S. government. Without an audit, U.S. law says DJI will go on the FCC’s naughty list — sorry, Covered list — effectively a ban on further U.S. sales.

DJI has long said it is happy to schedule the new U.S. audit; after all, the company has years of independent audits (and a Department of the Interior audit) under its belt. But with no reply from anyone in the Trump administration three weeks before deadline, DJI drones look like they will be left high and dry.

That’s why DJI just took the desperate step of sending open letters to Homeland Security head Kristi Noem, FBI boss Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Department of Defense (or is that War?) chief Pete Hegseth — whom they’d written to multiple times privately.

“In September you indicated through written communication the Department’s willingness to work with DJI,” the letter to Noem says. (Translation: we’ve got the receipts.) “We stand behind the security of our technology, and are keen to meet with you and ensure that this Congressionally-mandated security review takes place as soon as possible so you can fulfill your commitment.”

Adam Welsh, DJI head of global policy, ticked off all the ways DJI drones are safe — flight logs don’t go on servers, images and videos aren’t backed up to servers unless the user wants, and there’s a “local data” mode that cuts all connection between the drone and the internet.

With an eye to outraged consumers — especially farmers who use drone technology — Welsh wrote that a ban “would lead to widespread consumer confusion and deprive American drone users of due process — and of answers about the safety and security of the DJI products they use every day. Failing to undertake the review further goes against Congressional intent for a security review to be completed.”

The administration hasn’t commented on the open letters yet, but in the past, Hegseth’s department has claimed — without evidence — that DJI is a Chinese military company.