A California drone company whose technology aided Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza is now helping police departments across the United States surveil protesters, students, and ordinary Americans—automatically uploading millions of images to centralized evidence databases.
Following the events of October 7, Skydio, a previously lesser-known name in military technology, dispatched over 100 reconnaissance drones to the Israeli military to assist in operations during the siege of Gaza. The company’s leadership has indicated that more shipments are planned. With Skydio maintaining a presence in Israel through an office and a partnership with DefenseSync, a military drone contractor working with the IDF, the exact number of U.S.-manufactured drones used in Israeli combat efforts remains undisclosed.
These AI-driven quadcopters, having been tested in conflict zones, are now widely employed by law enforcement across major U.S. cities. Skydio drones are deployed daily across America, surveilling protests from Boston to Chicago, and in cities like Philadelphia, San Diego, Cleveland, and Jacksonville. The company has secured contracts with over 800 agencies, a number that has more than doubled since last year.
In New York City, the NYPD proudly announced deploying Skydio drones over 20,000 times in under a year, averaging 55 deployments per day. The department currently possesses 41 Skydio units. Philadelphia police have used Skydio drones for protest monitoring, while Yale University has utilized them to observe student protests related to Israeli actions in Palestine. The “No Kings” protests in New York received particular attention, with several drone deployments recorded.
Federal agencies are also investing in Skydio technology. ICE recently acquired the X10D model, which employs AI for autonomous target tracking, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has purchased 33 similar units.
This surge in drone-based surveillance is facilitated by a new FAA waiver permitting police to operate drones beyond the line of sight and above urban crowds, significantly enhancing remote monitoring capabilities. Cincinnati, for instance, expects that drones will soon respond to 90% of police callouts before officers arrive on the scene. Skydio’s docking stations are now strategically placed throughout cities, enabling drones to launch, land, and recharge autonomously.
Unlike traditional drones, Skydio’s UAVs do not require human pilots and can operate in “GPS-denied” urban settings. They utilize Nvidia chips for AI navigation, 3D mapping, and facial recognition, streaming real-time footage directly to the Axon digital evidence system. Axon, renowned for its Tasers and law enforcement gear, is a major investor in Skydio and maintains strong ties with the Israeli military.
Skydio investors include notorious Zionists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who have dumped millions into Israeli tech, and Next 47, headed by ex-IDF cyber agent Moshe Zilberstein. Funding rounds have also included Axon and Hercules Capital, whose leadership has deep Israeli-American banking ties.
In Atlanta, Skydio was chosen to outfit drone infrastructure for the city’s controversial new “Cop City.” Miami, surveilling spring breakers, and Detroit, spending $300,000 on Skydio units, show how fast these surveillance drones are being normalized in daily domestic policing.
As U.S. police and security agencies race to adopt these “battle-tested” surveillance platforms, the fusion of American policing and Israeli military tech—developed in, and field-tested upon, the people of Gaza—raises new and alarming questions about civil liberties, protest rights, and the global export of occupation technologies. Once again, Gaza is the laboratory and Americans become the next test subjects.
