It's difficult to pick the highlight of 2023 in the drone world. A lot has happened, both in terms of product and the political environment which looms around us as regulations never quite seem to settle. Let's start with the saddest news, which came as a bit of a surprise (though a rather drawn-out one): Skydio's abandoning of the consumer market.
As an American brand, Skydio's seemed to have an advantage – the US protectionist restrictions on Chinese drones could only be helpful? (While costing Americans $1billion!) The rules, however, apply to a broad range of government uses, including police, all of which come under a commercial umbrella so, in reality, probably made it easier for the firm to step away from the complex consumer space and concentrate all it's AI powers on commercial drones. This might well have been the plan all along, simply using consumers as a test bed for the AI.
