Silicon Valley is piling into the business of snooping

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.