DJI Innovations

Founded 2006 Legal Structure Private Industry Drones,Cameras,Electronics Also known as SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd.,Da-Jiang Innovations Official website DJI is a Chinese drone and camera manufacturer that requires mandatory app activation on its consumer products, locks cameras and gimbals into non-functional states after 5 activation skips, and restricts drone flight to 30 meters altitude and 50 meters distance when a user is not logged into a DJI account.[[1]]( The US Department of the Treasury added DJI to its Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list in December 2021, citing DJI's provision of drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang.[[2]]( In December 2025, DJI was added to the FCC's Covered List, banning the import and sale of new DJI drone models in the United States.[[3]]( DJI cameras (Osmo Action 5 Pro, Osmo Pocket 3) require activation through a proprietary app; after 5 skips the device locks its core functions until activation is completed (see Forced app download , Forced account ).[[4]]( DJI drone telemetry (serial number, pilot GPS coordinates, return-to-home location) is broadcast unencrypted via the DroneID protocol. DJI admitted the signal was unencrypted by design.[[6]]( DJI uses anti-rollback hardware fuses to prevent firmware downgrades, blocking users from restoring removed features.[[7]]( DJI dropped Mobile SDK support for consumer drones starting with MSDK V5 in 2022, blocking third-party app development for models like the Mavic 3 and Mini 3 Pro.[[8]]( DJI's official end-of-life page lists over 111 discontinued products for which the company no longer provides repairs, parts, or firmware updates.[[9]]( DJI (Da-Jiang Innovations) was founded in 2006 by Frank Wang (Wang Tao) in Shenzhen, China.[[10]]( Market analyses estimate the company controls between 70% and 90% of the global consumer drone market.[[10]]( DJI is privately held; its products include consumer and enterprise drones, handheld cameras (Osmo Action, Osmo Pocket), gimbal stabilizers (Ronin series), and robot vacuums (Romo). The US Department of Commerce added DJI to its Entity List in December 2020, restricting the company's access to US-made technologies.[[11]]( The Treasury Department followed in December 2021 by adding DJI to the NS-CMIC list, citing DJI's provision of drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau.[[2]]( DJI drones enforce strict authentication requirements. The official DJI Mavic 3 user manual states that "flight is restricted to a height of 98.4 ft (30 m) and range of 164 ft (50 m) when not connected or logged into the app during flight."[[1]]( DJI cameras extend this pattern: the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and DJI Osmo Pocket 3 require activation through a DJI app, with the device locking core functions after 5 skips of the activation prompt.[[4]]( DJI acknowledged the finding. In an August 2022 blog post on DJI Viewpoints, the company stated the signal was unencrypted by design, describing it as a proprietary protocol rather than a cryptographically secured transmission.[[13]]( DJI discontinued the AeroScope hardware line in March 2023 as the FAA's standardized Remote ID requirement took effect.[[14]]( The DJI Mini 2 SE uses the same 1/2.3-inch CMOS camera sensor as the standard DJI Mini 2, but DJI limits the Mini 2 SE to 2.7K resolution through firmware while the identical hardware in the Mini 2 records 4K.[[17]]( Users initially bypassed this by cross-flashing Mini 2 firmware onto the SE model. DJI responded by deploying anti-rollback mechanisms. Hardware analysis shows DJI uses eFuses (one-time programmable hardware fuses) to record a firmware version index; once the fuse is blown by a firmware update, the standard downgrade path is blocked.[[7]]( DJI's Mobile Software Development Kit (MSDK) allowed third-party apps like Litchi and DroneDeploy to build custom flight-planning and photogrammetry tools for DJI hardware. Starting with MSDK V5 in