The White House will meet with drone companies Thursday to discuss the future of the budding industry, as well as looming regulatory questions.
Trump is hosting a meeting with drone companies Thursday
Here are four of the drone companies that will be there.
At least four drone companies will be attending the meeting with the Trump Administration, according to multiple sources: Kespry, AirMap, Airspace and PrecisionHawk. All four companies are based in the U.S.
Representatives from the drone industry will first meet with White House staff and later will gather to meet with President Trump, along with members of another working group of companies meeting separately that morning to discuss 5G wireless technologies.
DJI, a Chinese company that is the largest consumer drone manufacturer in the world, would not specify if it was invited. Although Trump is focused on American businesses and jobs, his administration has continued to work with foreign companies, like SoftBank and Alibaba. DJI holds 50 percent of the market share for consumer drones in North America.
3D Robotics, a U.S. company focused on drone software, says it will not attend, but would not specify if the company was invited.
Project Wing, the drone delivery company owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, confirmed that no one from the company will attend, and also did not specify if it was invited.
Here are the drone companies that Recode has confirmed will be at the White House on Thursday:
- Kespry is a California-based drone company that makes drones and software for the mining, construction and insurance industries. The company’s CEO George Mathew will be in attendance and is bringing a customer from the construction industry, too.
- The founders of AirMap, Greg McNeal and CEO Ben Marcus, will be attending the White House drone meeting. AirMap makes a platform for drone mapping and alerts that’s used by nearly every major airport in the U.S., and its technology is installed on drones made by DJI and Intel to help with preventing aircraft from flying over restricted areas.
- The CEO of PrecisionHawk, Michael Chasen, will also be in attendance. PrecisionHawk makes software that analyzes data captured from drones used for things like crop analysis in agriculture and pipeline inspections for the energy industry.
- Airspace is a company that makes technology to track and take down rogue drones in flight — used in sports stadiums, at major events and by law enforcement. The CEO of Airspace, Jaz Banga, will at the White House meeting, too.
The White House’s focus on drones on Thursday comes at a time of regulatory uncertainty for the industry.
Last month, a federal court ruled that the FAA’s drone registration requirement for non-commercial drones wasn’t legal. The Trump administration last month also shared its own policy proposal for drones flying in U.S. airspace. If passed, it would permit the federal government to hack, destroy, track or commandeer drones without prior consent to evaluate if the aircraft pose a security threat to areas that receive special government protection. Trump also announced plans earlier this month to privatize air traffic control, a move that could expedite when drone delivery in the U.S. actually comes to fruition.
April Glaser is the robotics and drones reporter at Recode. Email her at april@recode.net.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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