Caixin
Caixin Global – Latest China News & Headlines

Home >

ABOUT US

CX Tech is Caixin Global's real-time tech news portal, featuring 24-hour news, short-form analysis, and roundups from business and tech media in China.

TRENDING
Cover Story: How U.S. Tech Blockade Sparked China’s AI Chip Boom
LATEST
Cover Story: How U.S. Tech Blockade Sparked China’s AI Chip Boom
Tencent Unveils Larger AI Model in Bid to Close Gap With Rivals
AI Chipmaker Sunrise Doubles Valuation After Raising 2 Billion Yuan
Analysis: Unitree Shares Slide as Investors Reassess Humanoid Robot Valuations
Baidu Shifts AI Agent Dumate Toward Industry-Specific Workflows
Z.AI Unveils Cheaper Model Running Entirely on Homegrown Chips
EHang Scraps Revenue Target in Wake of Fatal Aircraft Crash
XPeng to Raise $900 Million for Robotics Unit
China’s Advanced Chip Supply to Surge 46% Annually Through 2035, Goldman Says
Xiaomi Steps Up Chip Push With New Smartphone, AI and Self-Driving Processors
Alibaba’s $12 Billion Share Sale to Fund AI Push Sends Stock Lower
TikTok to Pay $400 Million to Settle U.S. Child Privacy Lawsuit
DeepSeek Enters the Multimodal AI Race with Experimental Vision Model
Alibaba’s Profit Plunges as E-Commerce Business Falters, AI Investment Jumps
YMTC Moves Closer to Shanghai IPO
Unitree Shares Decline as Founder Flags Limits of Humanoid Robots
AI Companies’ Success Lies in the Apps, Bain’s China Chairman Says
China’s LandSpace Recovers Booster in Reusable Rocket Breakthrough
Spacecom Raises $1.94 billion in Bet on China’s Starlink Rival
U.S. Appeals Court Orders Review of Pentagon’s DJI Designation
U.S. Tech Supplier Cuts Tie with Chinese Drone Makers

By Bloomberg / Jul 18, 2019 04:57 AM / Business & Tech

Photo: Bloomberg

Photo: Bloomberg

An American supplier of drone technology to dozens of state and local law enforcement and public safety agencies said it will stop working with Chinese drone manufacturers, citing security concerns.

Cape Productions Inc., a Redwood City, California-based startup, plans to inform customers Wednesday that it will stop selling software compatible with Chinese drones to its clients in the U.S. and a handful of other countries, most of which use the tools to remotely dispatch and operate the small aerial vehicles to survey possible incidents or crime scenes.

It’s a blow to China’s DJI, the world’s top maker of drones which has spent years trying to calm fears that its products could be used for espionage after several U.S. government agencies expressed cyber security concerns.

“The statements from different federal agencies have caused partners and prospective customers to have concerns,” said Chris Rittler, Cape’s chief executive officer. “That’s real.”

But in blacklisting Chinese drones, Cape runs the risk of hampering its own business, at least in the short term. DJI currently accounts for every single drone that runs Cape’s software commercially. The company declined to specify how many that is, saying only that it has flown more than 150,000 trips.

Cape will begin asking new customers to choose from a list of approved manufacturers and allow existing clients to use their DJI drones until the end of their contracts, which last no longer than a year.

In a letter to a Senate subcommittee last month, DJI denied charges that it sends video footage abroad and said it has built custom drones without internet capabilities for use in government projects. It attributed criticism to a desire to squelch competition from China.

This month, the Interior Department recommended approving DJI’s products but suggested limiting their use to nonsensitive missions involving data that could safely be made public. One reason the department cited for approving DJI was the lack of any viable domestic alternatives.

Related: China's DJI Broadens U.S. Operations to Quell Security Concerns

Share this article
Open WeChat and scan the QR code