Ongoing Efforts to Restrict Use of Chinese language Drone Expertise within the U.S. Intensify
Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Rating Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the Home Choose Committee on the Strategic Competitors Between america and the Chinese language Communist Celebration have taken a brand new step of their ongoing efforts to handle nationwide safety considerations associated to Chinese language drone expertise. In letters to Anzu Robotics’ CEO, Randall Warnas, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers demanded readability on Anzu’s relationship with SZ DJI Expertise Co., Ltd. (DJI), the Chinese language drone firm that holds roughly 80% of the worldwide drone market share.
Considerations Over Anzu’s Relationship with DJI
Of their correspondence to Anzu’s CEO, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi raised considerations about Anzu’s enterprise practices, citing safety researchers who found that Anzu’s Raptor T drone is actually a rebranded DJI Mavic 3. The letter said, “[S]ecurity researchers have confirmed that Anzu’s Raptor T is actually a DJI Mavic 3 painted inexperienced, with its distant management and software all working on DJI expertise.”
The lawmakers questioned whether or not Anzu is appearing as a “passthrough firm” for DJI, geared toward circumventing U.S. restrictions on DJI merchandise.
The letter questions the unconventional nature of the DJI-Anzu relationship. Anzu says that DJI supplies industry-leading drone expertise by way of a license that permits Anzu to change and manufacture the expertise with out sharing royalties or possession, and with no requirement to report buyer information. The lawmakers remarked, “Given these details, it’s onerous to know the enterprise rationale for DJI to enter into this relationship except for utilizing it as a passthrough to bypass authorized restrictions (present and potential) positioned on its merchandise.”
Questions for Anzu Robotics
Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi requested solutions from Warnas on a number of factors, together with the date Anzu first disclosed that its drones have been rebranded DJI merchandise, the character of the contractual preparations with DJI, and particulars of any factories concerned within the manufacturing of Anzu’s drone elements. They requested why Anzu didn’t disclose its relationship with DJI till after public studies confirmed that Anzu was successfully promoting rebranded DJI merchandise.
In keeping with lawmakers ongoing said considerations about Chinese language manufactured drone expertise, the letter additionally questioned the safety of Anzu merchandise, significantly concerning the involvement of DJI in offering technical assist. Lawmakers questioned the steps Anzu has taken to make sure that DJI doesn’t extract information from U.S. clients when offering this assist.
In response to DRONELIFE’s request for remark, Anzu CEO Randall Warnas says that the corporate will work with lawmakers to resolve their questions. “We imagine there are elementary misunderstandings about how Anzu Robotics operates and complies with the regulation,” stated Warnas. “We stay up for working collaboratively with the Committee to handle their considerations.”
Broader Context and Subsequent Steps
This inquiry comes amidst broader efforts by Congress and federal regulators to counter the nationwide safety risk posed by Chinese language drone corporations. DJI has been a focus of those efforts.
Earlier this 12 months, the Home handed the Countering CCP Drones Act, which might prohibit DJI expertise from accessing U.S. communication networks if signed into regulation. Moreover, DJI has been positioned on varied U.S. authorities restricted lists, together with the Pentagon’s blacklist as a ‘Chinese language navy firm’ and the Commerce Division’s Entity Checklist.
Lawmakers at the moment are questioning whether or not Anzu Robotics and one other drone maker, Cogito Tech Firm Ltd., are serving as cut-outs for DJI. They’ve requested that the Division of Commerce think about steps to handle these considerations and take acceptable motion towards these corporations if needed.