Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following Why Sign Up
Rick Smith

Rick Smith

CEO of Taser International

Appears in 2 stories

Net worth: 2.1 billion USD (2026)
Organization founded: Axon Enterprise

Notable Quotes

"By testing in real‑world conditions outside the U.S., we can gather independent insights, strengthen oversight frameworks, and apply those learnings to future evaluations, including within the United States." (blog post on Edmonton pilot, quoted by AP)([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/07/ai-facial-recognition-axon-edmonton/145d079e-d35f-11f0-a93c-a869cf73ebd6_story.html?utm_source=openai))

“By testing in real‑world conditions outside the U.S., we can gather independent insights, strengthen oversight frameworks, and apply those learnings to future evaluations, including within the United States.”

Axon will not be commercializing face‑matching products on our body cameras at this time. (2019 ethics board blog post)

Stories

From bans to bodycams: how police facial recognition is moving onto the street

New Capabilities

Championing field trials of bodycam facial recognition while facing ethics and regulatory scrutiny

In December 2025, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) in Alberta, Canada, began a month-long “proof of concept” in which Axon body-worn cameras run third‑party facial-recognition software to scan passersby against a tightly scoped yet sizable watchlist: 6,341 people flagged in EPS systems for risks such as “violent or assaultive,” “armed and dangerous,” or “high‑risk offender,” plus 724 individuals with serious arrest warrants, for roughly 7,000 faces in total. Officers do not receive real-time alerts during the pilot; instead, footage is analyzed afterward to test accuracy and workflows.

Updated Dec 11, 2025

Axon revives police facial recognition on bodycams with Edmonton pilot

New Capabilities

Driving Axon’s shift from a 2019 moratorium to real‑world facial recognition trials

In early December 2025, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and U.S. vendor Axon activated a month‑long “proof of concept” in which AI-enabled body‑worn cameras scan the faces of people officers encounter against a “high‑risk” watch list of 6,341 individuals with safety flags and a separate list of 724 people wanted on serious warrants. Axon, which in 2019 publicly promised not to put facial recognition on its body cameras after advice from its independent AI Ethics Board, now frames the project as “early‑stage field research” outside the United States that will inform potential future deployments in North America.

Updated Dec 11, 2025