FTC Cracks Down on Evolv's AI Weapon Detection Claims, Highlighting Concerns in AI Marketing

FTC says AI scanner "deceived" users after BBC revelations

The FTC said the action should be a warning to other AI companies. "The FTC has been clear that claims about technology - including artificial intelligence - need to be backed up", said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Evolv Technology's mission is to replace metal detectors with AI weapons scanners. It claims to do this with artificial intelligence, which can actively detect concealed weapons like bombs, knives and guns. The FTC's complaint alleges the company deceptively advertised its scanners would detect "all weapons". In 2022 the BBC outlined some of the impressive claims Evolv's then CEO had made about the technology. "Metallic composition, shape, fragmentation - we have tens of thousands of these signatures, for all the weapons that are out there," chief executive Peter George said in 2021. "All the guns, all the bombs and all the large tactical knives." However a BBC report in 2022 showed testing that had found Evolv's system could not reliably detect guns or bombs - after a freedom of information request from security-analysis company IPVM. Another BBC report in 2023 revealed details of a stabbing in a New York school where Evolv's weapons scanners were used. "It truly, truly does not find knives" the then Superintendent of Utica Schools 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 the US consumer watchdog's proposed settlement, Evolv will be banned from making unsupported claims about its products' ability to detect weapons and give some school customers the option to cancel their contracts. It will now go to a judge for approval. A spokesperson for Evolv said that it had worked "collaboratively" with the agency. "The FTC did not challenge the fundamental effectiveness of our technology and that the resolution does not include any monetary relief" said Mike Ellenbogen, Interim President and CEO of Evolv. "To be clear, this inquiry was about past marketing language and not our system's ability to add value to security operations," he said. There is concern amongst officials in the US and UK about companies overstating the ability of artificial intelligence to improve products. In some instances it's unclear whether artificial intelligence is being used at all. The FTC has recently launched "Operation AI Comply" that targets companies making deceptive claims about AI.

FTC: Evolv Oversold Abilities of AI-Powered Weapon Detector | PYMNTS.com

The FTC has accused Evolv Technologies of overstating the capabilities of its in-school weapons-detection system. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesday (Nov. 26) that it wants to ban Evolv from making unfounded claims about its products' ability to detect weapons by using artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, the regulator's proposed settlement order would require the company to give some of its K-12 school customers the option to cancel their contracts, which generally have customers signed into multi-year deals. "The FTC has been clear that claims about technology -- including artificial intelligence -- need to be backed up, and that is especially important when these claims involve the safety of children," Samuel Levine, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a news release. "If you make those claims without adequate support, you can expect to hear from the FTC." PYMNTS has contacted Evolv for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. According to the FTC, Evolv said that its Express scanners -- used in schools, hospitals and stadiums -- would detect all weapons and misleadingly claimed that its use of AI made its screening system superior to traditional metal detectors. However, the FTC alleges, the scanners repeatedly missed weapons in schools while flagging common, harmless items like laptops and water bottles. "For example, Evolv's Express scanners reportedly failed to detect a seven-inch knife brought into a school in October 2022 that was used to stab a student," the FTC said. "Afterwards, school officials increased the system's sensitivity settings, prompting a 50% false alarm rate." To reduce false positives, Evolv last year debuted a more sensitive setting for Express users to detect more knives, but still said some knives will be missed, more false alarms will happen, and more staff may be required to operate the machines. The case against Evolv is the latest example of the FTC's effort to crack down on companies for making exaggerated or bogus claims about AI products. In September, the watchdog announced "Operation All Comply," a law enforcement sweep targeting companies that use "AI hype" or sell AI technology that can be used in misleading and unfair ways The commission said in July it would use "all the tools at its disposal" to oversee the rise of AI tools, and would take action "against companies that deceive users about their use of AI or use AI in unfair ways."

Feds Say Evolv Is Over-Hyping AI Tech in Gun Detectors

“If you make those claims without adequate support, you can expect to hear from the FTC.†Evolv, the company behind a controversial "artificial intelligence" system used to detect guns on New York subways and in schools across the country, has been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of misleading customers, according to a new press release from the FTC. The agency alleges the Evolv Express scanners, which are used in about 800 schools in 40 states, aren't as accurate at detecting weapons as the company claims. And the FTC wants Evolv to stop overstating what its AI can do. "In the proposed FTC settlement order, Evolv would be banned from making unsupported claims about its products’ ability to detect weapons by using artificial intelligence and would also have to give certain K-12 school customers the option to cancel their contracts, which generally lock customers into multi-year deals," the FTC said in a press release Tuesday. The Evolv weapons detector gained widespread notice in the national press earlier this year when the system was installed in the New York subway system. But even the CEO at the time noted the subway system wasn't a good use case. The FTC says Evolv has falsely implied that users can avoid having to make the trade-offs necessary for having a highly secure weapon-detection system and a "seamless experience" for people entering a building. At the heart of the problem, setting the scanners to a lower sensitivity level allows too many weapons to get through undetected, and setting it to a higher sensitivity sets off too many false alarms. Evolv says that its system is superior to regular metal detectors because it utilizes AI, but the FTC argues that's little more than marketing hype. “The FTC has been clear that claims about technologyâ€"including artificial intelligenceâ€"need to be backed up, and that is especially important when these claims involve the safety of children,†said Samuel Levine, the director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, according to a press release. “If you make those claims without adequate support, you can expect to hear from the FTC.†The FTC notes in a court filing that in Oct. 2022 a student at a New York school brought a 7-inch knife that passed through an Evolv Express scanner. And other times, Evolv scanners have failed to detect an off-duty cop's weapon while setting off an alarm for a student's lunchbox. The school raised the sensitivity levels after the stabbing incident, but that just doubled the false alarm rate to 50%, according to the FTC. Evolv didn't respond to emailed questions Tuesday morning. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.