Silicon Valley is piling into the business of snooping

Tech upstarts are selling their wares to America’s police


In early SeptemberNYPDNYPDAIVCNYPD BRINCAIGPT, BRINC New Yorkers may have noticed an unwelcome guest hovering round their parties. In the lead-up to Labour Day weekend the New York Police Department () said that it would use drones to look into complaints about festivities, including back-yard gatherings. Snooping police drones are an in America. According to a recent survey by researchers at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, about a quarter of police forces now use them.Even more surprising is where the technology is coming from. Among the ’s suppliers is Skydio, a Silicon Valley firm that uses artificial intelligence () to make drones easy to fly, allowing officers to control them with little training. Skydio is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture-capital () giant, and Accel, one of its peers. The is also buying from , another startup, which makes flying machines equipped with night-vision cameras that can smash through windows. Sam Altman of Open, the startup behind Chatis among ’s investors.

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