Police forces are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to investigate and solve crimes, and one company has positioned itself at the center of that shift.
Axon, the maker of the Taser, has remade itself into a policing software business. In a Wall Street Journal interview, reporter Victoria Albert profiles CEO Rick Smith, who is betting the company's dominance — and his own pay package — on technology. According to the Journal, Axon's revenue from AI policing tools is rising more than 700% year over year.
That surge is part of a broader trend. NDTV reports on how law enforcement agencies are now using AI to help solve crimes, signaling these tools are moving from novelty toward routine police work.
The growth has not come without questions. According to CNBC, President Trump bought as much as $5 million in Axon stock before Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought a potential $220 million Taser deal. CNBC reports that Axon has ramped up its lobbying in Congress on federal law-enforcement technology as ICE pursues that agreement.
Taken together, the sources point to a company growing fast on government business at the same moment its products are entangled with federal immigration enforcement and a sitting president's investments.
Why it matters: As AI becomes embedded in how police and federal agents do their jobs, the financial and political ties behind the technology raise real questions about oversight, conflicts of interest, and who profits from the expanding business of automated policing.