Professional Drone Racing Could Be the Next Big Thing—Data Sheet

Have you watched any professional drone racing yet? It’s kind of insane, as the pilots use VR goggle to fly their craft up and down and all around at speeds over 90 miles per hour that look more like a zillion miles per hour on TV. But talking with Drone Racing League founder, CEO, and visionary-in-chief Nicholas Horbaczewski, you do get a little bit of that Lloyd Dobler vibe from the Gen X classic Say Anything: “You heard of kickboxing, sport of the future? Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, Lenny Merciless, one of the champions of the sport? I can see by your face, no.”

Horbaczewski couldn’t see my face as we spoke on the phone the other day, but I had not heard much more about drone racing than kickboxing. It does seem to be…taking off (sorry) as a new sport, though. DRL races air in 90 countries (including on NBC in the United States) and tens of millions have watched online, via live-streaming on Twitter among other places. You can also buy prior seasons on iTunes or Amazon.

But it’s about more than just creating a “futuristic, technology-enabled sport,” as Horbaczewski describes it. Like professional auto racing, there’s also an effort to stir innovation and race ahead by developing new tech. Two years ago, a league-designed craft set the world record for the fastest drone ever, hitting almost 180 miles per hour.

The newest twist will pit the best human pilots against some software-driven rivals. After holding a huge contest for A.I. piloting software that attracted more than 400 entries, the league and partner Lockheed Martin picked nine teams to participate in four races. All nine teams, which range from a trio of aerospace engineers in Pittsburgh to some RC flying enthusiasts/programmers in Warsaw, will run their piloting software on identical drones. The craft can’t use GPS or receive any human guidance as they fly like mad around indoor obstacle courses. So far, no A.I. drone has come close to beating a human, but that’s the goal.

“Sports is a great environment to design and push the limits on technology,” Horbaczewski. “Ultimately, we see that flowing back into the market.”

Another area of expansion for DRL has been in the news lately, but not in a good way. DRL is broadcasting an exhibition race of top Chinese pilots (held in the United States) on Oct. 16. A slightly larger sports league, the National Basketball Association, has gotten into all kinds of trouble as it struggles to deal with the clash between free expression in a democracy and Chinese government demands against siding with the protests in Hong Kong.

As you probably read in yesterday’s newsletter (thanks to my colleague Jonathan Vanian for filling in!), the controversy has also swept in some tech companies. Apple un-reversed its stance on banning the mapping app HKmap.live last night. First it was banned from the Chinese app store, then allowed back in. But last night, Apple said the app “has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement.” The app developer and others dispute that conclusion and Apple’s change of heart followed strong criticism of the company in Chinese state-run media. Stay tuned–this clash of values won’t be going away anytime soon.

Aaron Pressman

On Twitter: @ampressman

Email: aaron.pressman@Fortune.com

NEWSWORTHY

Keep going and going. The Nobel Committee recognized three scientists for the invention of the lithium-ion battery. This year's Nobel prize for chemistry went to John Goodenough at the University of Texas, Austin, Stanley Whittingham at SUNY-Binghamton, and Akira Yoshino of Meijo University.

A broadcast that should never be broadcast. A shooting outside a synagogue in Halle, Germany which left two people dead on Wednesday was live-streamed to online video service Twitch. The Amazon-owned service pulled the video down after 35 minutes and publicly condemned the attack.

Here we go again. An ad filled with false claims by the Trump re-election campaign will be allowed to run on Facebook. The social network rejected a protest over the ad from Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. "In mature democracies with a free press, political speech is already arguably the most scrutinized speech there is," Facebook's public policy director of global elections Katie Harbath told the Biden campaign in a letter.

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease. While Apple is waiting until at least 2020 to offer a 5G phone, Google is testing a Pixel device compatible with the new, super-fast wireless standard and could introduce it next week, Nikkei Asian Review reports. Other Android phonemakers, including Samsung and Huawei, have already started selling 5G models.

Who watchers the watchers? Opening the next privacy scandal, it turns out workers for Amazon have reviewed footage from some customers of the company's Cloud Cam home security service. Dozens of Amazon workers based in India and Romania review select clips, Bloomberg reports.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Speaking of the clash between free expression and Chinese government demands for censorship, New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo has a warning for the tech industry. Executives from U.S. companies have long pitched engagement with China as a way to weaken the authoritarian government's hold on power, but it hasn't turned out that way, he writes:

China proved them wrong. It didn’t just find a way to nail Jell-O; it became a Jell-O master carpenter. Through online surveillance, facial recognition, artificial intelligence and the propagandistic gold mine of social media, China has mobilized a set of tools that allow it to invisibly, routinely repress its citizens and shape political opinion by manipulating their feelings and grievances on just about any controversy.

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BEFORE YOU GO

Solar power is great, but it only works in daylight, obviously. Now a new energy-producing chip has arrived that works at night using somewhat similar principles. UCLA researcher Aaswath Raman's invention uses radiative cooling from the night sky, but so far can only power a single lightbulb. Maybe he should hook up with the drone racing league to spur faster developments?

This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman. Find past issues, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters.