Company
Autel Robotics
Autel Robotics is a Chinese consumer and commercial drone manufacturer developing the EVO, Dragonfish, and Alpha series of drones for aerial photography,…
- Founded
- 2014
- HQ
- Shenzhen, China
- Status
- private
Appears inInspection & survey drones
Models
4
Deployments
3
Patents
8
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Track Autel Robotics on Deploy.
We notify you when a verified state change lands on the record, not when the company issues a claim.
Key facts
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
wikipedia
Founders
Maxwell Lee, Li Hongjing (ex-DJI)
Products
Dragonfish VTOL, EVO Lite+, Alpha, EVO Max 4T
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.
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
Where Autel Robotics's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
- delivery and inspection drones in United States →
- delivery and inspection drones in California →
- delivery and inspection drones in Ukraine (combat zones) →
- delivery and inspection drones in Nevada →
- delivery and inspection drones in United Kingdom →
- delivery and inspection drones in China →
- The global deployment map →
Relationships
Current leadership (2)
- Maxwell Lee Co-founder
- Li Hongjing Co-founder
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 →
Operated deployments (3)
- Autel EVO Lite+Global
- Autel DragonfishGlobal
- Autel AlphaGlobal
Operator customers (1)
- Autel Robotics3 deployments
Recent coverage
Autel Robotics in third-party press
Peer companies
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
- BRINC3 models
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
- US7979174B2usptograntedgranted 2011-07-12assignee
- US10044013B2usptograntedgranted 2018-08-07assignee
Patent litigations (2)
- 337-TA-1133itcdecided · infringement foundas complainant2020-05-21
- 1:16-cv-00706district_courtpending · pendingas respondent
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?
- 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.
- What does Autel Robotics make?
- Autel Robotics has 4 robot models on the DEPLOY registry: Autel EVO Lite+, Autel Alpha, Autel Dragonfish and 1 other (Autel Robotics builds physical robots).
- Is Autel Robotics publicly traded?
- No. Autel Robotics is privately held and not publicly traded, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Autel Robotics?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Autel Robotics building in the same form factors include Anduril Industries, DJI, Amazon, Teledyne FLIR.
- Who is the CEO of Autel Robotics?
- Maxwell Lee is the founder of Autel Robotics, per the DEPLOY registry.
- How can I invest in Autel Robotics?
- Autel Robotics is a private company; its shares are not available on public markets, so retail investors cannot buy the stock today.
- Where is Autel Robotics headquartered?
- Autel Robotics is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.
- Who owns Autel Robotics?
- Autel Robotics is privately held; ownership sits with its founders and private investors.
- Where does Autel Robotics operate robots?
- Autel Robotics operates 3 verified deployments, including at Global.
- Is Autel Robotics a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Autel Robotics ranks in roughly the top 61% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Autel Robotics founded?
- Autel Robotics was founded in 2014.
- Is Autel Robotics safe?
- Autel Robotics has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 12 sources (4 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-07
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-07
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
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
- BRINC3 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Autel Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
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
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Amazon4 models
- Teledyne FLIR4 models
- AeroVironment3 models
- BRINC3 models
Reality vs attention
Autel Robotics draws attention at the 45th percentile but verifies reality at the 64th percentile among aerial robots. Hype Gap -18.7, 39th widest among aerial robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 3 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: Jul 15, 2026