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.

In the wake of October 7, Skydio, a once lesser-known player in military technology, quickly delivered over 100 reconnaissance drones to the Israeli military for the ongoing Gaza siege. The company’s leaders have assured that further shipments are on the horizon. Despite Skydio’s established presence in Israel and its partnership with DefenseSync—a drone contractor serving as an intermediary for the Israeli Defense Forces—the precise number of U.S.-manufactured drones being deployed for Israeli military operations remains undisclosed.

These AI-enhanced quadcopters, initially tested in conflict zones affecting Palestinian civilians, are now being used extensively by law enforcement across major U.S. cities. Skydio drones are operational hundreds of times daily, monitoring activities from Boston to Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, Cleveland, and Jacksonville. With agreements in place with over 800 agencies—more than double the previous year’s numbers—the drones have become a staple in American policing.

In New York City, the NYPD recently reported deploying Skydio drones over 20,000 times in under a year, averaging around 55 deployments per day. The police department currently possesses 41 Skydio units. In Philadelphia, these drones have been used to oversee protests, while Yale University employed them in monitoring student demonstrations against Israel’s actions in Palestine. Notably, the “No Kings” protests in New York experienced heightened surveillance with numerous drone deployments.

Federal authorities are also adopting this technology, with ICE purchasing Skydio’s X10D drones, which are equipped with artificial intelligence for autonomous target tracking. Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has procured 33 similar devices.

Fueling this surge in surveillance is a new FAA waiver that allows police to operate drones beyond the line of sight and over populated areas, significantly enhancing remote observation capabilities. Cities like Cincinnati anticipate that 90% of police responses may soon be managed by drones before officers physically arrive at the scene. Skydio has strategically placed docking stations throughout cities, enabling drones to launch, land, and recharge without requiring field operators.

Unlike older drones, Skydio’s UAVs operate without human pilots and can function in “GPS-denied” urban environments, using Nvidia chips for AI-powered navigation, 3D mapping, and facial imaging—feeding real-time footage directly into the Axon digital evidence system. Axon, famous for its Tasers and police weaponry, is a major Skydio backer with deep Israeli military ties.

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.