US weapons scanning company Evolve Technology will be prohibited from making unsubstantiated claims about its products in a proposed settlement with the US government.
The company claimed that its AI scanners, which are used at entrances to thousands of schools, hospitals and stadiums in the United States, can detect any weapon.
However, a BBC investigation found these claims to be false.
Evolve said it has now reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which does not admit any wrongdoing.
The FTC said this action should be a warning to other AI companies.
“The FTC has been clear that claims about technology, including artificial intelligence, must be substantiated,” said Consumer Protection Bureau Director Samuel Levin.
Evolv Technology’s mission is to replace metal detectors with AI weapons scanners.
It claims to do this with artificial intelligence that can proactively detect hidden weapons such as bombs, knives, and guns.
The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company deceptively advertised that its scanners would detect “all weapons.”
In 2022, the BBC outlined some of the impressive claims Evolv’s then CEO made about the technology.
CEO Peter George said in 2021: “We have tens of thousands of these signatures for every weapon that’s out there: metal composition, shape, fragmentation.” . “Every gun, every bomb, every big tactical knife.”
However, a 2022 BBC report, following a Freedom of Information request from security analysis firm IPVM, indicated that tests had found that Evolv’s system could not reliably detect guns and bombs.
Another BBC report from 2023 revealed details of a New York school stabbing in which an Evolv weapon scanner was used.
“We really, really couldn’t find the knife,” the then-Utica schools superintendent told the BBC.
And earlier this year, the BBC reported that Evolv’s claims that the UK government had tested and approved its technology were also false.
Under a proposed settlement with a U.S. consumer watchdog, Evolve will be prohibited from making unsubstantiated claims about its products’ ability to detect weapons and will give some school customers the option to cancel their contracts.
It will now be asked for approval from a judge.
An Evolv spokesperson said they had been working “in partnership” with the company.
“The FTC did not challenge the fundamental validity of our technology, and the resolution does not include any monetary relief,” said Mike Ellenbogen, Evolv’s interim president and CEO. “It has not been done,” he said.
“To be clear, this study is about historical marketing language and not about the ability of our systems to add value to security operations,” he said.
There is concern among U.S. and British officials that companies are overstating artificial intelligence’s ability to improve products. In some cases, it may be unclear whether artificial intelligence is being used at all.
The FTC recently launched Operation AI Comply, which targets companies that make false claims about AI.
