Whack-a-drone

In Pasadena, California, there’s a tiny reddish ceramic courtyard wherever 1 storefront isn’t for illustration the rest. The solid doors unfastened onto a sparse business hallway, which leads to a sunlit foyer pinch a ample spiral staircase. Go up, and you’ll spot a emblematic coworking space: unfastened tables, patient snacks, a postulation of gathering rooms pinch solid walls. Follow 1 hallway astir of the measurement back, and you’ll find Office 18.

There are nary signs of life successful this mini backstage agency that’s expected to beryllium the office of Odyssey Robot, an upstart US drone company. We saw 3 mini desks and chairs, but nary powerfulness strips, nary monitors, nary keyboards aliases chargers aliases decorations. Two of the desks were covered pinch sealed cardboard packages.

This room is the latest proof: The FCC’s prohibition connected foreign-made drones is simply a bad joke.

On December 22nd, 2025, the US authorities claimed — without a shred of nationalist grounds — that overseas user drones posed an unacceptable threat to nationalist security. With the thief of different agencies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr banned each early overseas drones from entering the state without a typical caller waiver.

Like pinch Carr’s make-it-make-sense consumer net router ban, that waiver has thing to do pinch the information of these products. The exertion includes zero questions astir restricting aliases improving the exertion itself.

Instead, it gives Carr and President Donald Trump the powerfulness to determine losers and winners while beating the “America First” drum. Foreign companies person to taxable a elaborate scheme to build their products successful the US, including really overmuch they intend to put successful US manufacturing — yet US-based Netgear sewage a waiver from the router prohibition moreover though it made nary committedness to nutrient devices extracurricular Asia.

Consumer drones are efficaciously each made successful China, and arsenic of April, it appeared that nary 1 planned to alteration that arsenic a consequence of the FCC’s overseas drone ban. Though immoderate US dronemakers exist, they’re pursuing a different and much lucrative opportunity: drones that spy and kill.

But Office 18 shows different gaping spread successful the FCC’s plan. Instead of creating caller US user drone companies, it’s incentivizing fake ones instead.

How easy is it to fool the FCC? Just dishonesty connected the paperwork, it seems.

Just whip up a caller institution that pretends to build brand-new drones successful the USA and count connected nary 1 noticing — moreover if your drones intelligibly usage proprietary DJI wireless tech.

DJI, the world’s biggest drone company, didn’t predominate drones conscionable because of first-mover advantage. It was technology. DJI’s OcuSync and older Lightbridge real-time video transmission systems were and are the astir reliable long-range, low-latency ways to remotely power a consumer-grade drone. Almost each clip The Verge has tested different brand, the awesome hasn’t been arsenic reliable. It’s a competitory advantage that DJI wouldn’t easy share.

But OcuSync has a telltale fingerprint. It uses circumstantial pairs of power frequencies, pairs that look successful the FCC’s databases.

When package developer and journalist Konrad Iturbe began watching FCC databases for those frequencies, he realized that DJI was preparing to play a expansive crippled of Whac-A-Mole successful the United States. Well up of the December 2025 drone ban, a big of caller companies had abruptly appeared trading hardly disguised versions of DJI technology. He dubbed them “DJI beforehand companies.”

One of the astir salient DJI clones to participate the US was Skyrover, which released a fund drone that was a dormant ringer for the DJI Mini 4 Pro. Last July, DJI would not corroborate aliases contradict to The Verge that “Skyrover” was a disguised type of its ain drone, moreover though information researchers confirmed its app included DJI code.

Then, successful October, Iturbe helped america present you to Xtra, the institution that lets DJI sneak its celebrated cameras into the US. When we tested an Xtra camera versus a DJI camera, we recovered them truthful identical, it removed immoderate doubt. Again, DJI would not corroborate aliases deny.

As a result, US citizens were still capable to acquisition DJI tech — only now, they were dealing pinch fly-by-night businesses, pinch nary existent guarantee of support successful the future.

This June, Iturbe discovered the astir brazen effort yet. The DJI fingerprint led him to the FCC filings for a institution named Odyssey Robot, which does business arsenic Galiview Tech. In March, it became the first DJI-equipped drone marque to get FCC support since the drone prohibition began. DJI did not reply to requests for remark for this story.

If Galiview was trying to hide the DJI connection, it didn’t effort very hard: The company’s website moreover listed DJI’s trademarked OcuSync tech arsenic a Galiview feature.

Wasn’t stopping clandestine Chinese hardware the full constituent of the ban? How could the FCC o.k. this drone?

Simple: On February 6th, a “Randolph Howard Eason” declared connected an FCC shape that Odyssey Robot’s drone and controller were made successful the United States, and cipher ever questioned that earlier rubber-stamping its application.

The FCC could person spotted the OcuSync frequencies, aliases that this supposedly US-manufactured gadget was tested by a Chinese lab, aliases that it utilized a Chinese-made antenna besides utilized by different Chinese drone.

But it’s easier than that. Odyssey Robot declared that its drone was designed, developed, and manufactured astatine 21 Miller Alley Suite 210 successful Pasadena, California. Even a basal Google hunt tin show you that’s not the reside of a mill — it’s a coworking abstraction called Industrious that explicitly prohibits members from manufacturing thing onsite.

Odyssey Robot besides declared that its drones are assembled astatine eTak Worldwide Corporation successful Grand Prairie, Texas. With 80,000 quadrate feet of storage abstraction and 15 loading docks, you could theoretically build drones there. But again, a basal Google hunt would show you that eTak isn’t an assembler; it’s a recycling institution that collects e-waste, including aged batteries, past sorts and dismantles them.

Still, we wanted to beryllium sure. We called up the receptionist astatine the coworking abstraction successful Pasadena; they confirmed that Odyssey Robot was actively renting a two-person backstage office. Official California business records claimed the institution was operating retired of Office 18. You cognize the rest: We recovered a lonely room pinch 3 unused desks topped pinch cardboard packages.

If the FCC had ever seen the website for these drones, it could person recovered moreover much eyebrow-raising contradictions. The website claimed that “Galiview Inc.” was founded successful 2022 and headquartered successful San Francisco, moreover arsenic it provided a Las Vegas telephone number and a Pasadena address.

“Based successful the bosom of San Francisco’s exertion invention hub, we’ve been pushing the boundaries of what’s imaginable successful user drone technology,” it claimed.

In reality, nationalist records show that Galiview is not a corporation. It’s a trademark of Odyssey Robot, LLC, which was formed successful Delaware successful January 2025 and registered successful California past December, aft what seems for illustration an aborted effort to telephone the marque “Flyon” instead. Other trademark filings from February 2026 show it readying astatine slightest 3 products: a Galiview Titan, Galiview Venus, and Galiview Nova.

The institution ne'er replied to my emails to [email protected], the 1 and only email reside it has provided publicly. We recovered its only telephone number disconnected: “The subscriber you person dialed is not successful service.”

eTak Worldwide, the recycler, besides wasn’t answering emails aliases picking up the phone. “Sorry, but the user’s mailbox can’t judge immoderate much messages,” I heard clip and again. We had nary amended luck pinch “iNet Expert,” an earlier institution from eTak’s laminitis that claimed to connection wholesale machine parts. Every clip I tried the company’s telephone tree, the reply was ever a robotic “No 1 is available.”

But erstwhile I realized iNet Expert was conscionable 30 minutes from my house, I decided to salary it a visit.

The building was locked, but done the model I saw thing strange. The superior decoration was a astir floor-to-ceiling trading image for a smartphone surface protector from 2014, from a institution called Rudaor. It appears that iNet tried to go a US distributor, judging by the roughly 300 views connected YouTube. On the windows of iNet’s office, location were besides signs for Hirutech USA, the defunct US limb of a Taiwanese electronics business improvement patient that erstwhile occupied the aforesaid address.

The full building was a clip capsule — and yet, it’s still getting a fewer shipments from overseas, including connected July 15th, according to import records collected by ImportYeti.

eTak’s laminitis has a history of lending retired his business address, I thought.

But erstwhile I yet stumble crossed a compartment telephone number for Richard Lee, laminitis of eTak and iNet Expert, he says he’d ne'er heard of Odyssey Robot until a week aliases truthful earlier.

“I’m happy you called me, because we wholly person nary thought what’s going on,” Lee told maine connected July 13th. “Why are group utilizing our institution sanction to do this benignant of thing? It’s benignant of ridiculous.”

When I show him Odyssey Robot’s sworn attestation that eTak assembles its drones, he says it must person picked his reside retired of a hunt engine.

“No, we don’t combine anything, we only refurbish,” he says erstwhile I ask, adding that eTak doesn’t person the manpower. He says he’s recycled batteries for Taiwanese machine shaper Wistron (which builds laptops for giants for illustration HP and Dell), UV ink cartridges for Anker, and vacuums for Ecovacs, but he’s ne'er had a narration pinch dronemaker DJI.

“They are a immense company, they will not take us,” he says. “If they usage our institution name, it’s not adjacent for us, it’s not right.”

But whoever’s down Odyssey Robot is apt to get distant pinch the lies.

Since 2023, each overseas institution trading wireless gadgets successful the United States has theoretically needed an other quality successful the loop, based successful the United States. That February is erstwhile the FCC added the request for a “US agent” who it tin legally service papers to, and pass with, truthful the FCC tin enforce against a institution that mightiness beryllium unreachable nether world law.

But there’s thing successful the rules that requires anyone to verify the US supplier is simply a known, reputable personification pinch a moving telephone number and email address, moving retired of an existent imperishable office. And though the FCC mightiness person guidelines suggesting those things, Keller & Heckman partner Greg Kunkle tells The Verge that it’s improbable anyone’s bothering to check.

“To my knowledge, there’s nary existent vetting of the US agent,” he tells The Verge. “If you’re making a misstatement, that’s a norm violation, but I don’t deliberation the FCC aliases TCB is checking those actively. I’m not judge anybody is.”

Kunkle says that for the past decade aliases so, FCC authorizations haven’t really been handled by the FCC astatine each — the agency outsourced that domiciled to roughly 40 backstage companies called TCBs, short for Telecommunications Certification Bodies. “Once the TCB finishes its process, you’re bully to go,” says Kunkle, adding that those authorizations spell consecutive into the FCC database pinch nary much FCC input astatine all.

A TCB could theoretically get successful problem for letting banned companies through, moreover suffer its position — and the FCC does inquire TCBs not to return the “US agent” astatine their word. The agency added specific guidelines this past December astir that, including the request for “a valid beingness US mailing address,” not conscionable a virtual mailbox aliases a vacant lot:

“TCBs should not trust solely connected the applicant’s certification,” the FCC writes. If a TCB has immoderate logic to judge that a gadget may beryllium banned, the FCC says it shouldn’t process the exertion astatine all. And if a TCB decides it did the incorrect thing, it should “immediately taxable a KDB enquiry explaining the rumor to the FCC,” the agency adds.

But does that happen? We reached retired to TÜV Rheinland, the TCB that approved Odyssey Robot’s FCC authorization, to fto it cognize we were penning a communicative astir Odyssey Robot making perchance fraudulent attestations, and the institution still couldn’t find thing wrong.

“As of today, we do not person immoderate actual grounds for questioning our certifications to Odyssey Robot. If location is simply a reasonable ground for questioning a certification, we will travel the procedures established by the FCC for specified cases,” TÜV Rheinland communications head Maximilian Grün told The Verge connected July 15th.

TÜV Rheinland said it hadn’t received immoderate connection from the FCC regarding Odyssey Robot, but besides that Odyssey Robot did not forge the TÜV Rheinland trial reports attached to its FCC filing. Those were genuine.

If the TCBs do their jobs, it’s imaginable they would drawback immoderate clone brands. The TCBs are expected to audit 5 percent of each devices they certify successful a almanac twelvemonth and study backmost to the FCC pinch their findings — including whether a institution fails to supply a sample of a merchandise for testing. Perhaps Odyssey Robot would person been the 1 successful 20 and get caught that way.

But truthful far, the only “DJI beforehand companies” we’ve seen targeted by the FCC are the ones that journalists brought to the agency’s attention.

On July 10th, the FCC projected $25,000 fines against 8 of the “DJI beforehand companies,” noting that they were alerted to the brands done investigation from Konrad Iturbe and my ain sum connected The Verge. It justified the fines, and perchance further action, because those companies’ US agents didn’t moreover fuss replying to the agency’s letters.

In 2024, the FCC likewise projected over $700,000 successful fines against Eken, a Hong Kong-based video doorbell shaper that besides grounded to supply moving interaction accusation for a US agent. That time, it was journalists at Consumer Reports who prompted the FCC to act.

But moreover if the FCC tin rumor a fine, it astir apt won’t beryllium capable to collect.

Earlier this year, the agency cited the Eken lawsuit arsenic evidence that “foreign actors successful our instrumentality authorization person been capable to evade US rule erstwhile products they are responsible for person harmed American consumers.” Even if a institution pretends to beryllium based successful the US, the FCC can’t scope them if they’re really successful China instead.

There mightiness still beryllium existent financial consequences for immoderate DJI beforehand companies. On July 17th, the FCC took things up a notch by threatening to retroactively prohibition the DJI fronts’ already-approved products from import, sale, marketing, and distribution, which could beryllium the extremity for successful brands for illustration Xtra and Skyrover that snuck successful earlier the ban.

But it seems for illustration that mightiness beryllium wherever the FCC’s nonstop powers of enforcement end. Former FCC enforcement main Peter Hyun tells The Verge that the agency will want to nonstop a connection to different companies not to do this thing, but the devices it has successful its instrumentality loop are forfeitures, cease and desist letters, and “show-cause” orders wherever a institution has to explicate why its licence shouldn’t beryllium revoked. The FCC could besides theoretically thief the Department of Justice bring a smuggling charge, he says.

Lying smugglers hiding down disconnected telephone numbers won’t beryllium stepping guardant to supply their existent identities, of course.

On July 21st, a period and a half aft Iturbe and The Verge asked the FCC astir Odyssey Robot for this story, the agency revealed it had sent a “show-cause” bid to the company a fewer days aft we tipped them off. The FCC’s investigation was constricted to sending letters to Odyssey and eTak and noting whether the 2 entities responded. Odyssey didn’t respond. eTak denied immoderate narration pinch Odyssey.

eTak replied to the FCC connected July 13th, the aforesaid time I said to its laminitis connected the phone.

The mobility now isn’t what happens to the quiet husk of Odyssey Robot, but really galore different smugglers mightiness sneak done erstwhile the agency isn’t tipped off. If the only logic the FCC caught Odyssey is simply a feline named Konrad — well, that’s not really authorities agencies are expected to work.

The FCC’s user gadget bans are surgery if they don’t require anyone to do a basal Google hunt earlier legally approving banned gadgets for import and sale. They’re surgery if the FCC can’t way down and make a meaningful illustration of a bad character moreover aft they’re caught, because the aforesaid lies that made them invisible besides shield them from consequences.

Since Odyssey hadn’t yet begun trading drones successful the US, revoking its FCC authorization apt wouldn’t matter to its enigma owners. It wouldn’t beryllium astonishing if their takeaway is to dishonesty much carefully, alternatively than not lying astatine all.

But it does look that the FCC is attempting to adjacent immoderate loopholes.

At first, it seemed that the FCC was pursuing the America First look of punishing Chinese entities based connected their affiliation alternatively than their actions — it took action against 8 alleged “bad labs” that trial radios successful China simply because Chinese state-sponsored entities had much than 10 percent equity. When it moved against SGS-CSTC Shenzhen, a laboratory utilized by astatine slightest 1 DJI front, it didn’t mention that beforehand successful its justification for the move.

But connected July 21st, the FCC moved against trial laboratory Shenzhen STS because it “willfully provided mendacious trial results” for a assortment of Bluetooth headsets, phones, and tablets, which the laboratory blamed connected negligent staff. Perhaps the FCC will enactment against TCBs and trial labs that aren’t cautiously checking banned gadgets, too.

The agency is besides now proposing to make online retailers for illustration Amazon show the FCC IDs of each instrumentality connected their merchandise pages truthful that consumers tin cheque for themselves whether the names statement up, astatine least. Amazon already collects those FCC IDs from sellers, but spokesperson Juliana Karber confirms the company’s ne'er required them to really show the IDs publicly.

The FCC did not respond to immoderate of our repeated requests for remark complete the past 2 months.

So far, we’ve been incapable to way down “Randolph Howard Eason,” the “compliance director” who submitted Odyssey Robot’s paperwork. No 1 we’ve recovered by that sanction aliases akin seems apt to beryllium a fit, and those who mightiness person been paid by Odyssey — for illustration the coworking abstraction and TÜV Rheinland — declined to show The Verge thing much astir their clients.

Not that we’d needfully get very far, because Odyssey Robot utilized middlemen to screen its tracks. For example, Sean Hartlieb, an lawyer successful Hawaii who processed the “Galiview” trademark, tells The Verge that he ne'er interacted pinch the institution astatine all. He says he processes trademark filings for each sorts of Chinese companies arsenic a broadside gig, getting his assignments from a Chinese patient that charges a level interest for US trademarks.

By paying mini standardized fees, it mightiness not beryllium that costly for a large institution to build tons of ammunition companies and spot which ones flight notice. “$20,000, possibly thing for illustration that?” Kunkle suggests each mightiness cost. “Trademarks, TCBs, trial labs, it’s astir apt location successful that range. It’s not overmuch much than that.”

So what keeps a large overseas marque from sneaking through?

“I dislike to opportunity it, but it would beryllium beautiful easy,” says Kunkle. “I deliberation conscionable the measurement of devices coming into the United States — if you’re the type of personification that’s consenting to fudge this paperwork and you reside successful immoderate spot wherever you deliberation you’re unreachable by the US government, I don’t deliberation this would beryllium difficult to clone astatine all.”

If anyone were to make a definitive nexus betwixt Odyssey Robot and DJI, I thought it would beryllium 1 of the firms that registered its LLC successful the United States. Odyssey Robot is presently registered done Delaware Business Incorporators and California Registered Agent. But Delaware is simply a authorities that lets companies group up LLCs anonymously.

“Unfortunately, it opens up the doorway to fraud and there’s not overmuch recourse,” says the receptionist astatine Delaware Business Incorporators.

If I want to scope Odyssey Robot, the receptionist astatine California Registered Agent tells me, I tin effort mailing the connection to her agency successful Sacramento instead.

“We’re real!” she says. “Sometimes our clients are not, unfortunately.”

Additional reporting by John Higgins.