A drone maker and a smart home device company covered up their ties to the Chinese Communist Party and put Americans’ data at risk, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleged in a new lawsuit.
Anzu Robotics was accused of masquerading as an American-owned drone maker based in Texas – while actually selling devices from a blacklisted Chinese manufacturer, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in US District Court for Collin County, Texas.
It’s part of a “calculated scheme” to circumvent the US government’s efforts to blacklist the Chinese drone manufacturer, known as DJI, over its deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the suit stated.
“Anzu Robotics products are nothing more than a 21st century trojan horse linked to the CCP,” Paxton said in a Wednesday statement, warning that DJI technology can potentially allow the Chinese government to collect surveillance data.
His office is “taking several targeted actions against CCP-aligned companies this week,” Paxton added – including another lawsuit earlier in the week against TP Link, which sells Wi-Fi routers and smart home devices like robot vacuums and doorbells with cameras.
TP Link’s products are labeled with “Made in Vietnam” stickers – but the company’s supply chain is “deeply entrenched in China,” exposing “millions of consumers to severe cybersecurity risks… [and] Chinese hacking groups,” according to a Tuesday lawsuit filed in US District Court for Collin County, Texas.
“The claims made by the Texas Attorney General’s office are without merit and will be proven false,” a spokesperson for TP Link told The Post in a statement.
The company said its CEO Jeffrey Chao lives in Irvine, Calif., and its core operations are located within the US.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has updated the state’s list of prohibited companies to include both DJI and TP Link, according to legal documents.
In January 2025, the Department of War identified DJI — the Chinese drone maker allegedly using Anzu Robotics to skirt national security blockades — as a company directly supporting the Chinese Communist Party.
The Commerce Department has placed some export restrictions on DJI.
In 2021, the Treasury Department revealed it had identified DJI as one of eight companies supporting the biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China – specifically Muslim Uyghurs – to support “the government’s efforts to repress” religious minorities.
According to Wednesday’s lawsuit, Anzu Robotics drones “are DJI drones in all but name,” including identical hardware, firmware, software and “only a coat of green paint and an American label to distinguish them from their Chinese counterparts.”
The Post has sought comment from Anzu Robotics and TP Link.
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