Ring's Drone Cam, the company's security camera drone slated for January, will not let owners fly it themselves.
Ring confirmed that the drone runs entirely on what it calls an "AI Pilot," software that follows pre-programmed routes and steers around obstacles on its own. There is no manual control option.
That differs from the early version shown on CBS Mornings, in a segment later posted on Threads. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff let technology reporter Jo Ling Kent fly the drone through a mobile app with built-in controls. Ling Kent asked, "Can I control it?" and Siminoff began his answer with "Yeah, so ..." The demonstration was an embarrassing one, and the drone crashed on air. Ring has not said why it dropped manual controls.
The design is coherent on its own terms. A security camera is supposed to watch without anyone at the stick, and an owner who has to pilot the drone is doing the camera's job. But removing the controls also changes where responsibility sits. Every flight becomes the software's flight, with no person at hand to take over if the route goes wrong.
That leaves a gap between the two versions. The early build let a reporter steer, the shipping one will not, and Ring has not explained what changed in between. Until the drone is in homes, its obstacle handling is something the company describes rather than something owners have tested.