Skydio CEO Adam Bry on why Silicon Valley shouldn't draw red lines for drone use

Beyond flying drones around the country, Adam and I talked about why Skydio is so focused on the enterprise market - I asked him a lot about working with police and military, but you'll hear him say a lot of Skydio's customers are utility companies that use drones to remotely inspect important infrastructure in ways that weren't possible before. Verge subscribers, don't forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Decoder wherever you get your podcasts. That's a big market, but it's also one that was being served by cheap consumer drones in the past - products that basically no longer exist on the US market since most of them came from China, and the Trump administration banned foreign-made drones late last year.

All those inexpensive DJI drones disappeared overnight, leaving expensive Skydio products as the main alternative. Adam and I talked about all that and the reality of manufacturing complex products like drones in the United States. We also talked about Skydio's work with the military and how Skydio's use of AI lines up with defense work - I really wanted to know where Adam's lines were, at a time when military use of AI is more controversial than ever.

There's a lot in this one - maybe more than anything, it was refreshing to hear Adam talk about using AI to bring even more people to work at Skydio as the company expands. And again, I got to fly the drones, which ruled. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.