DJI
DJI Names 15 Onboard AI Challenge Winners, From Banana Farms to Bridge Cracks
DJI names 15 winners in its Enterprise Drone Onboard AI Challenge 2026, from a Colombian banana farm crop counter to closed-loop traffic inspection in China.
Haye Kesteloo
Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo. Also on LinkedIn, Muck Rack, Instagram and YouTube.
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2020
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OPERATORS
DJI Ban Hits Home: Drone Pilots Ask Whether Their Businesses Survive
A new Part 107 pilot asked Facebook if the DJI ban killed his drone business before launch. 268 comments show what operators face ahead of September 3.
Industry
Navy Puts $50 Million On Shield AI's X-BAT While The Air Force Watches
The Navy and Defense Innovation Unit are investing $50 million in Shield AI's X-BAT, a tail-landing fighter drone that has never flown. The Air Force is deliberately sitting this one out, and the hard part is the landing.
US Government
White House Summons 40 Drone Companies As Tariff Deadline And Beijing Loom
The first White House Drone Dominance event packed roughly 40 drone makers into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, two weeks before Section 232 tariffs hit and hours before Beijing demanded their withdrawal.
Drone Incidents
FBI Task Force Forced Down Hobby Drones Over Spokane Wildfires
An FBI-led counter-drone unit built for the FIFA World Cup detected 41 unauthorized drones over the Spokane wildfires in four days and used electronic countermeasures to force them down. No pilots were arrested; the cases went to the FAA with fines of up to $100,000 each.
ADVOCACY
DSPA Presses AUVSI To Back Operators Over Bans After Robbins Exit
DSPA calls on AUVSI to reset after Michael Robbins' exit: back drone operators, demand evidence, and judge drones on risk, not country of origin.
US Army
US Army Kills the Drone Battalion It Created Just Seven Months Ago
The US Army is phasing out the 3rd Battalion, 504th PIR, its only drone assault unit, seven months after creating it to absorb Ukraine's drone war lessons.
Counter-Drone
Northcom Cannot Stop A Homeland Drone Swarm. Its Deputy Commander Said So.
Asked if he could defeat a drone swarm launched inside U.S. borders, Northcom's deputy commander said no. Nine days earlier, five autonomous drones hit a tank in Maryland.
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