Moolenaar, Krishnamoorthi Expose PRC Drone Firm Masquerading as U.S. Agency – sUAS Information

Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Rating Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the Home Choose Committee on the Strategic Competitors Between the US and the Chinese language Communist Occasion wrote to the CEO of Anzu Robotics, demanding solutions about his firm’s relationship with Folks’s Republic of China (PRC) navy drone firm, DJI. In separate correspondence to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers define overwhelming proof of Anzu’s regarding relationship with DJI and request that the Commerce Division think about steps to handle the specter of Anzu, together with a equally problematic drone maker, Cogito Tech Firm Ltd.

Within the letter to Anzu’s CEO Randall Warnas, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi write, “[S]ecurity researchers have confirmed that Anzu’s Raptor T is basically a DJI Mavic 3 painted inexperienced, with its distant management and software all working on DJI expertise… Primarily based partly by yourself statements, it seems that DJI is utilizing Anzu as a passthrough firm in an try to keep away from present and anticipated U.S. restrictions on DJI merchandise. Much more disturbingly, we discovered that Anzu’s CEO admitted in a latest interview that the first objective of the DJI-Anzu relationship was to avoid rising U.S. legislative restrictions on DJI merchandise.”

They proceed, “The character of the DJI-Anzu relationship seems to defy frequent enterprise conventions. For example, Anzu claims that DJI is offering its industry-leading drone expertise to it by a license that offers ‘Anzu Robotics the rights to switch and manufacture this expertise at will. There are not any royalties shared with the licensing group, no joint or shared possession of Anzu Robotics, and no reporting on buyer information.’ On prime of that, based on shows that Anzu supplied, DJI can be offering ‘precedence technical help’ for all Anzu drones. Given these details, it’s laborious to know the enterprise rationale for DJI to enter into this relationship except for utilizing it as a passthrough to avoid authorized restrictions (present and potential) positioned on its merchandise.”

Due to Anzu’s deeply problematic ties to the PRC navy drone firm DJI, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi request solutions to the next questions from Anzu’s CEO, together with:

• On what date did Anzu first publicly disclose that its drones are rebranded DJI merchandise or in any other case closely depend on DJI expertise and elements? Why did Anzu not disclose its relationship with DJI till after public reporting already confirmed that Anzu was successfully promoting rebranded DJI merchandise?
• Anzu has said that “there are not any royalties shared with the licensing group” (DJI).Elsewhere, Anzu has acknowledged that “roughly half of Anzu’s elements come from China. A lot of its software program originated there. Anzu licensed the design for its drones from DJI, which receives a cost for each drone that Anzu orders from its producer in Malaysia.”
• Please present the Choose Committee with a duplicate of all contractual preparations between your organization and DJI (or any affiliated entity).
• Please listing the title, location, and phone info of the Malaysian issue(ies) and another factories, within the PRC or in any other case, that produces elements for Anzu merchandise.
• Please listing the title, location, and phone info for all entities that contributed to the software program and firmware that’s discovered inside Anzu merchandise.
• Anzu has said on its web site that DJI receives no royalties for its work with Anzu, however has acknowledged in interviews that DJI receives a cost for each drone that Anzu orders from its Malaysian facility. Please describe all advantages that DJI receives for its licensing settlement with Anzu, together with (however not restricted to) all types of income era, entry to markets, and information acquisition.
• Why is DJI apparently offering technical help for Anzu merchandise?
• What steps have you ever taken to make sure that DJI doesn’t extract information from U.S. prospects when partaking on this technical help?
• Please listing all Anzu Robotics drone elements manufactured in factories owned or managed by PRC corporations reminiscent of DJI. These embrace DJI-affiliated amenities operated exterior of China.
• Please listing all DJI-produced chips contained onboard Anzu merchandise and the chips’ functionalities, together with potential to enter or output information by WiFi, 5G, or different means.
• DJI is listed on a number of U.S. authorities restricted lists for aiding the Folks’s Liberation Military and facilitating genocide, amongst different dangerous conduct. Anzu’s drones include lots of the similar elements and inherently the identical vulnerabilities as DJI merchandise. Does Anzu acknowledge that its merchandise fall below the identical restrictions in the US as DJI? If not, what are Anzu’s authorized and technical arguments for a opposite place?
• Please present a chronology of Anzu’s engagement with DJI, together with any discussions with DJI that occurred previous to the formal institution of your organization in contemplation of its institution.
• Please additionally describe the character of your private employment by DJI from 2015 to 2017.

Background:

Over the past 12 months, Congress and regulators have taken motion to counter the nationwide safety menace posed by PRC drone corporations and tackle severe considerations associated to DJI’s operations in the US. Quite a few officers have outlined the unacceptable dangers that DJI poses, together with its deep partnership with the Folks’s Liberation Military, its expressed allegiance to the Chinese language Communist Occasion, its surveillance expertise working throughout U.S. soil, and that very same expertise equipping the CCP’s genocide of the Uyghur individuals in Xinjiang.

Consequently, the Home handed the Countering CCP Drones Act, which might prohibit DJI expertise from accessing U.S. communication networks if signed into regulation. The Pentagon positioned DJI on its blacklist as a ‘Chinese language navy firm.’ The Treasury Division forbids Individuals from investing in DJI. The Commerce Division restricts U.S. corporations from exporting expertise to DJI. DJI has sought to flee prohibitions and anticipated bans on their merchandise by white labeling its merchandise by a brand new firm based mostly in Texas, Anzu Robotics. Latest analysis has revealed that ‘Anzu Drones’ are apparently DJI drones painted a distinct coloration, operated by DJI software program and expertise.

Click on HERE to learn the lawmakers’ letter to Anzu.

Click on HERE to learn the lawmakers’ letter to Secretary Raimondo.