DJI will no longer stop drones from flying over airports, wildfires and the White House, shifting responsibility to U.S. law enforcement to prevent some of the worst forms of drone abuse. Some believe the odd timing of the decision is political, coming just days before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, weeks after drone hysteria in New Jersey, and an aircraft fighting wildfires in Los Angeles. Days after the plane was shot down by a DJI drone. Some people even think that this is China's response to the US orchestrated TikTok ban, which is a bit far-fetched to me.

Regardless, DJI is now reacting to the whole vibe with an official blog post, claiming the timing is coincidental.

"We planned to roll out this update in the U.S. months ago, but delayed implementation to ensure the update worked properly," reads an unsigned blog post from the company.

It also claims in bold letters that “Politics will not drive DJI’s safety decisions".

"To suggest that this update has anything to do with the current political environment in the United States is not only wrong, but dangerous," DJI's unnamed author wrote.

While the post does include various other details about what is and isn't happening with the company's geofencing systems, there's no doubt that DJI has removed the feature that by default blocks the vast majority of U.S. drone pilots from flying over Function. Airports, power plants, active wildfires, military bases, and government buildings like the White House are obviously no exception.

If politics didn't drive the decision, what did? The blog post didn't make it clear. While it promised to provide "the real reasoning behind this update," it still hinted broadly that DJI had aligned itself with aviation regulators around "operator responsibility principles," noting that its no-fly zone pilots were "missing opportunities, Delays in operations or unnecessary waiting times.”

"This is particularly challenging for commercial operators, drone companies, and most critically, public safety agencies doing lifesaving work, and delays are simply unacceptable," DJI wrote.

Indeed, DJI’s geofencing system was created voluntarily by DJI and was not mandated by U.S. regulators. "The FAA does not require drone manufacturers to provide geofencing," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. edge.

But will removing hard geofences make us safer? Did DJI pay any price to maintain its position? We asked DJI the following questions:

• If politics didn't drive the decision, what did?
• Do U.S. regulatory agencies or representatives require DJI to lift the no-fly zone?
• Will there be a financial benefit to DJI from removing them, or is there an opportunity cost to maintaining them?
• Is it technically impossible for DJI to update its GEO system with official FAA data while maintaining the no-fly zone?
• This blog post suggests that public safety agencies are experiencing unlock delays - are there specific instances where DJI unlock delays are having a specific impact on lifesaving efforts?
• How does lifting no-fly zones make drones safer?

We'll let you know how DJI responds.

Even if the decision has nothing to do with China, the company now has good reason to attract the attention of U.S. regulators - it currently faces a blanket U.S. import ban on its drones and cameras unless "appropriate national security agencies" Publicly declare that its products do not pose unacceptable national security risks.

Perhaps the move helps highlight how DJI is voluntarily building drones less Avoid national security risks by keeping them away from critical facilities. Perhaps DJI leaders believe that only by removing this feature will the United States understand this.