The verified answer
As of Aug 2026, DEPLOY verifies Autel Robotics: 4 models, 6 deployments across 4 regions. 20 sources back the record.
CategoryDrones
Appears inInspection & survey drones
Overview
Autel Robotics is a Chinese consumer and commercial drone manufacturer developing the EVO, Dragonfish, and Alpha series of drones for aerial photography, mapping, and Inspection applications.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 6 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Founded
Market position
US regulatory status
Autonomy (flight-tech)
wikidata
wikipedia
Founders
Products
Data & sources
Press releases
4
Patent documents
8
Web sources
8
20 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (4)
View all models →Current platform
Autel EVO Lite+
Consumer drone with 1-inch CMOS sensor. 40min flight, 12km range, 3-axis gimbal. It is an aerial drone designed for physical AI applications. Key specifications include Founded: Around 2014, Shenzhen, by former DJI engineers; drone arm of Autel Intelligent Technology, Market position: DJI's principal consumer/enterprise drone challenger, US regulatory status: DoD Section 1260H Chinese-military-company designation (Jan 2025); added to FCC Covered List (Dec 2025); not on the DIU Blue UAS list. Autel's challenge is ADMINISTRATIVE (FCC Application for Review, Jan 2026 + reply May 2026); the Feb-2026 federal court suit against the FCC was filed by DJI, not Autel., Autonomy (flight-tech): 'Autel Autonomy' obstacle-avoidance/path-planning (720-degree vision + mmWave radar fusion) and 'A-Mesh 1.0' drone-to-drone mesh networking. Pilot-assist flight-tech, not a standalone autonomy system., wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123347438, wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autel_Robotics, Founders: Maxwell Lee, Li Hongjing (ex-DJI), Products: Dragonfish VTOL, EVO Lite+, Alpha, EVO Max 4T.
Current platform
Autel Alpha
Autel's industrial flagship drone with upgraded sensing, 720-degree obstacle avoidance, and A-Mesh 1.0 drone-to-drone mesh networking for BVLOS relay.
Current platform
Autel Dragonfish
Tilt-rotor VTOL fixed-wing drone series (Lite/Standard/Pro) for long-endurance surveillance and mapping; debuted at CES 2021.
Current platform
EVO Max 4T
Autel Robotics' EVO Max 4T is an enterprise quadcopter with a 4-in-1 payload (wide, zoom, thermal, laser rangefinder), combining binocular vision with mmWave radar and an onboard Autonomy Engine for 720-degree obstacle avoidance; ~42-minute flight time and long-range transmission.
Autel Robotics on the deployment map
View the global map6 verified deployments across 4 regions, newest verified Jun 2024. Explore where Autel Robotics's robots are operating, by place and type.
- operationalAutel EVO Lite+ at Global →International · verified Jun 2024
- operationalAutel Dragonfish at Global →International · verified Jun 2024
- operationalAutel Alpha at Global →International · verified Jun 2024
- operationalEVO Max 4T at Scotland, United Kingdom →Western Europe · verified Jan 2024
- operationalEVO Max 4T at Papillion, Nebraska, USA →Midwest · verified Jan 2024
- operationalEVO Max 4T at Clarkstown, New York →Northeast · verified Jan 2023
View the full Autel Robotics deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (2)
- Maxwell Lee Co-founder
- Li Hongjing Co-founder
Founders (2)
- Maxwell Leecofounderno longer at company
- Li Hongjingcofounderno longer at company
Safety record
No incidents on record for Autel Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Autel Robotics6 deployments
Recent coverage
Autel Robotics in third-party press
Aventon Labor Day Sale drops Soltera 2.5 e-bike to $999 low, Autel 40A level 2 smart AI EV charger $376, Greenworks, Navee, more
NautelNav Participates in Deployable eLoran Concept
Amazon slashes $410+ off Worx 1/4-acre robot mower, 50% drop on Anker SOLIX S2000 power station, Autel level 2 EV charger $909, more
Peers
99 peers across 1 segment. Every Autel Robotics competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
drone(99)
57 companies in this segment · moderately_concentrated (HHI 1809.2177305910177) · leader Anduril Industries at 3057%
- AEVEX Aerospacedirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- ATL Global Holding AGdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Aereodirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AeroVironmentdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AgXeeddirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AirForestrydirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- high
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Patent estate (8)
- US12332667B2usptograntedassignee
- US12387356B2usptograntedassignee
- US12554013B2usptograntedassignee
- US12333956B2usptograntedassignee
- US12325541B2usptograntedassignee
- US9260184B2usptograntedgranted 2016-02-16assignee
Patent litigations (2)
- 337-TA-1133itcdecided · infringement foundas complainant2020-05-21
- 1:16-cv-00706district_courtpending · pendingas respondent
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Autel Robotics EVO Lite+ series introduction
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Autel Alpha industrial drone
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Autel Dragonfish VTOL drone
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Autel EVO Max 4T enterprise drone
- Record createdMay 31, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (12)
- https://www.autelrobotics.com/about-us/
- https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/36Kr-KrASIA/Autel-Robotics-challenges-DJI-with-high-performance-drones
- https://www.suasnews.com/2023/08/is-autel-a-chinese-company/
- https://www.commercialuavnews.com/infrastructure/randall-warnas-new-ceo-of-autel-robotics
- https://dronedj.com/2025/02/14/autel-evo-ii-drone-discontinue/
- https://dronedj.com/2020/09/03/autel-announces-made-in-the-usa-evo-ii-dual-bundles/
- https://media.defense.gov/2025/Jan/07/2003625471/-1/-1/1/ENTITIES-IDENTIFIED-AS-CHINESE-MILITARY-COMPANIES-OPERATING-IN-THE-UNITED-STATES.PDF
- https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/07/2025-00070/notice-of-availability-of-designation-of-chinese-military-companies
- https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-1086A1.pdf
- https://dronelife.com/2025/12/22/fcc-adds-foreign-made-drones-and-components-to-covered-list-citing-national-security-risks/
- https://dronexl.co/2026/05/19/autel-fcc-reply-covered-list-secret-evidence-dji/
- https://dronedj.com/2026/05/19/autel-drone-ban-us-fcc/
Common questions
What is Autel Robotics?
What does Autel Robotics make?
Is Autel Robotics publicly traded?
Who competes with Autel Robotics?
Who is the CEO of Autel Robotics?
How can I invest in Autel Robotics?
Where is Autel Robotics headquartered?
Who owns Autel Robotics?
Where does Autel Robotics operate robots?
How many robots has Autel Robotics deployed?
Is Autel Robotics a top robotics company?
When was Autel Robotics founded?
Is Autel Robotics safe?
Methodology: Verified · 12 sources (4 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 8
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 4
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Autel Robotics.Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Baykar4 models
- Earendil Robotics4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Autel Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Aventon Labor Day Sale drops Soltera 2.5 e-bike to $999 low, Autel 40A level 2 smart AI EV charger $376, Greenworks, Navee, more
Aventon is leading our Monday Green Deals this week as it has kicked off a Labor Day Sale on its smart e-bikes, including first-ever savings on the newest REC models, as well as…
NautelNav Participates in Deployable eLoran Concept
NautelNav has announced its participation in a new concept for a field-deployable eLoran station. This application, when realized, could result in the procurement... The post…
Amazon slashes $410+ off Worx 1/4-acre robot mower, 50% drop on Anker SOLIX S2000 power station, Autel level 2 EV charger $909, more
Today’s 9to5Toys Green Deals is headlined by the 1/4-acre Worx Landroid robot lawn mower at more than $410 off , the new Anker SOLIX S2000 at nearly 50% off , as well as Autel’s…
Autel Robotics Data Security and Privacy Protection Explained
Data Security and Privacy at Autel Robotics In an era defined by advanced technology and connected devices, concerns around data security and user privacy have become increasingly…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/autel.md
- RSS feed: /companies/autel/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/f938f1c9-c727-4d38-b672-984ea6ecef7f
- Revision history: /companies/autel/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Baykar4 models
- Earendil Robotics4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
Video
Heat Index
Serious50/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Autel Robotics draws attention at the 62nd percentile but verifies reality at the 80th percentile among aerial robots. Hype Gap -18.2, 89th widest among aerial robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 6 verified deployments. Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Aug 29, 2026