Robotics
DJI vs. TikTok: The Chinese Drone Giant Tried a US Strategy First, Then Abandoned It for Shell Companies
TikTok just pulled off what many considered impossible. On Thursday, ByteDance agreed to spin out a U.S. TikTok entity where non-Chinese investors will own approximately 80 percent of the American app. ByteDance keeps just 19.9 percent. The deal effectively neutralizes…
UK Ministry of Defence invests £240,000 in drone degree as Army confronts artillery’s decline
When I first covered the NMITE drone degree announcement last month, the funding details were conspicuously absent. Now we have numbers. The Ministry of Defence has committed £240,000 to what officials are calling the UK’s first “drone degree,” with enrollment…

Lace folds a 3D printed drone into a backpack
A student led nonprofit is pushing 3D printing far beyond hobby frames, with a foldable 800 mm drone designed to be built almost anywhere, repaired fast, and used for real research work. A foldable research drone built to be printed…
Robot Dogs Join Japan’s Assault Force Test
Japan just gave the world a preview of what its future ground assaults might look like, and yes, they include robot dogs going first so humans do not have to, as Defence Blog reports. During January 2026’s New Year descent…
Dassault’s $200M Harmattan Bet Completes France’s AI Defense Trifecta
Four months ago, we reported that Paris-based Harmattan AI was seeking a billion-dollar valuation and was in talks with Dassault Aviation. The aerospace giant just called, and they’re bringing $200 million to the table. The Series B round values Harmattan…
Helsing’s Keybotic Acquisition Reveals Europe’s Real Defense Vulnerability: It’s Not in the Sky
When Germany’s hottest defense startup quietly acquires a Spanish robot dog company, the headlines should make you pause. Helsing, the €12 billion AI defense giant that has dominated European drone coverage for the past year, just added Barcelona-based Keybotic to…
Pilot Institute Survey: 8,056 Operators Reveal DJI Ban Will Devastate American Drone Industry
I’ve been warning about the consequences of a DJI ban for over a year. Now we have the data to prove it. Pilot Institute surveyed 8,056 drone operators across the United States, and the findings confirm our worst fears: the…
Caltech’s X1 Robotic Duo Has a “Hybrid Drone” That Can Crawl, Drive, and Fly
Caltech has teamed up with the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) to create a robotic symbiosis between a Unitree G1 humanoid robot, and their own hybrid drone prototype – the Morphobot M4. This autonomous duo is able to carry out safety-sensitive…
Drones Race to Beat Wildfires Before They Explode
From a distance, the scene looked almost relaxed. A large black drone rested on grass. A small fire crackled on stacked pallets. Hanging underneath the drone was a red balloon filled with water, looking less like cutting edge technology and…
FCC Bans All Foreign And DJI Drones: America Just Made Itself Weaker, Not Safer
We’ve been tracking the December 23 deadline for months, expecting DJI to land on the FCC’s Covered List through bureaucratic default. What the FCC actually did today goes far beyond anything we predicted. They didn’t just ban DJI. They banned…
DJI Ban: Why Everyone Owes Drone Pilots Honest Answers
This week, DJI’s Head of Global Policy Adam Welsh sat down with YouTuber Faruk from iPhonedo for what was billed as a deep dive into the looming December 23 DJI ban. I watched the interview hoping for hard questions. What…
UK Drone Degree Creates Military Pipeline US Doesn’t Have
I’ve spent years watching the US government debate how to handle its “drone problem” – banning DJI, restricting airspace, creating regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile, Britain just announced it’s doing something radically different: building an entire academic pipeline to train the next…