The Federal Trade Commission has accused a company that makes AI-powered security screening systems for some 800 schools across 40 states of promoting false claims about its ability to detect weapons and keep kids safe. 

Evolv Technology, which sells AI-powered 鈥渨eapons detection鈥� systems to schools and other businesses, made deceptive claims to customers about its ability to detect all weapons accurately and efficiently, the commission alleged in . 

Schools make up half of Evolv鈥檚 business, according to the complaint, even though the publicly traded company may be best known as a security staple at stadiums and for a pilot program in New York City鈥檚 subways earlier this year that yielded dismal results.

鈥淭he FTC has been clear that claims about technology 鈥� including artificial intelligence 鈥� need to be backed up, and that is especially important when these claims involve the safety of children,鈥� Samuel Levine, director of the commission鈥檚 bureau of consumer protection, said in a media release. 鈥淚f you make those claims without adequate support, you can expect to hear from the FTC.鈥�

Evolv鈥檚 marketing materials promote its scanners as high-tech alternatives to metal detectors, but the complaint argues the company made inaccurate assurances about the product鈥檚 ability to reduce false alarms, cut labor costs, eliminate the need for people to remove innocuous items from their pockets 鈥� and its capability to detect all weapons.

The company it had reached a settlement with the commission that did not involve any admission of wrongdoing or monetary penalties but would give certain K-12 customers a 60-day window to cancel the remainder of their current contracts.

The eligible districts account for 8% of all Evolv customers, according to a media release, and deploy 4% of its scanners. Cancelling those contracts could impact $3.9 million of its annual revenue.

鈥淭his resolution allows us to focus on a small segment of our school customers to ensure they remain satisfied with鈥� Evolv鈥檚 scanners 鈥渁nd allows us to move forward without distraction,鈥� Mike Ellenbogen, the company鈥檚 interim president and CEO, said in the statement.

Evolv has that it uses AI to scan for the unique 鈥渟ignatures鈥� of tens of thousands of weapons, allowing it to distinguish 鈥渁ll the guns, all the bombs and all the large tactical knives鈥� out there from everyday items like keys and laptops. 

In its release, Evolv framed the FTC inquiry as focusing on past marketing materials and not the efficacy of its AI technology, but it also said the company would 鈥渞efine the way it markets its technology, highlighting capabilities and limitations.”

School safety consultant Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, told 社区黑料 that school leaders have increasingly turned to weapons detection systems to signal to parents that they鈥檙e taking proactive steps to keep students safe. 

鈥淪ome may have unknowingly created the very result they hoped to prevent: A quandary, as they may have to explain to their school communities why they bought technology that may not be delivering what was implied or promised to them and their school community,鈥� he said. 

The 鈥� including its 鈥� has faced pushback for several years, particularly by IPVM, an independent security and surveillance industry research group that tests and evaluates products. Some of the schools the group researched had false alarm rates of up to 60%. 

Last year, a high school student in Utica, New York, after he was stabbed in a campus hallway by a classmate who brought a knife past an Evolv scanner without detection. The school district had spent $3.7 million on the scanners from Evolv, a Massachusetts-based company backed by big-name investors including Bill Gates and Peyton Manning. The company boasts its artificial intelligence-equipped devices can screen up to 1,000 students in 15 minutes 鈥� 10 times faster than traditional metal detectors.聽

New York City Mayor Eric Adams of Evolv鈥檚 scanners inside some New York City subway stations this year, which was met with opposition from civil rights groups who argued it was unconstitutional and impractical to screen millions of transit users daily. Over the course of a month, the scanners across 20 subway stations had 118 false positives and recovered 12 knives. They didn鈥檛 detect a single firearm. 

The company on Tuesday pointed to two incidents last month where Evolv scanners detected guns that students were attempting to bring into their and high schools.

As AI becomes a buzzword in education technology, the FTC in February the prowess of their artificial intelligence offerings, adding that 鈥渇alse or unsubstantiated claims about a product鈥檚 efficacy are our bread and butter.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Publicly traded Evolv Technology acknowledged that the Federal Trade Commission had 鈥渞equested information about certain aspects of its marketing practices鈥� in last week, of its technology in promotions that could give customers, including schools, a false sense of security. 

Citing two anonymous sources, is the subject of an FTC investigation into whether its scanners 鈥� essentially next-generation metal detectors with a 鈥� employ artificial intelligence to identify weapons in the ways that it claims.

It鈥檚 unclear whether Massachusetts-based Evolv鈥檚 sales pitches to the education sector are part of the federal probe. An FTC spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday. In its Oct. 12 disclosure form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in a statement this week to 社区黑料, Evolv said the company was 鈥減leased to answer鈥� regulators鈥� questions. 

鈥淲hen Evolv receives inquiries from regulators, our approach is to be cooperative and educate them about our company,鈥� the statement continued. 鈥淭he company stands behind its technology鈥檚 capabilities and performance track record.鈥�

The company has that it uses AI to scan for the unique 鈥渟ignatures鈥� of tens of thousands of weapons, allowing it to distinguish 鈥渁ll the guns, all the bombs and all the large tactical knives鈥� out there from everyday items like keys and laptops. 

Yet the 鈥� including its 鈥� has faced pushback for several years, particularly by IPVM, an independent security and surveillance industry research group that tests and evaluates products. Conor Healy, the group鈥檚 director of government research, said that false and misleading marketing claims have been 鈥渁 pattern with the company鈥� for years. Among the inaccurate assertions, he said, is that the tool 鈥渆liminates the friction鈥� that students experience when they pass through security everyday. 

鈥淭hat has been shown to be just simply not true at all,鈥� Healy told 社区黑料 this week. 鈥淭here鈥檚 quite a lot of friction. The schools that we鈥檝e looked at have .鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Districts have increasingly turned to 鈥渨eapons detection鈥� systems from Evolv and competing security vendors in response to fears of school shootings 鈥� anxiety that the company says 鈥渒eeps both students and staff from doing their best work.鈥�

Evolv 鈥渃ombines powerful sensor technology with proven artificial intelligence鈥� to identify threats like guns in hundreds of U.S. schools. Capable of scanning more than 4,000 people an hour, Evolv says its devices are 鈥�10X faster than metal detectors,鈥� and 鈥渉elp reduce opportunities for bias鈥� by decreasing secondary screenings by humans.

Evolv extols the benefits of its scanners well beyond schools鈥� physical safety. While frequent false alarms by traditional metal detectors lead to 鈥渟ecurity anxiety鈥� and 鈥渋nconvenient delays,鈥� according to the company鈥檚 website, Evolv scanners offer 鈥渁 more effective and dignified solution, fostering a safer, more inclusive environment that bolsters academic achievement and staff retention.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

IPVM has accused the company of is 10 times faster than traditional metal detectors, and found the scanners . Meanwhile, IPVM has documented instances where false alarms were by water bottles, binders and laptops.

In a statement to Pennsylvania-based IPVM last month, Evolv said 鈥渨e understand if any of our past statements appeared to generalize our capabilities,鈥� which may violate an FTC rule that requires company claims to be evidence-backed. 

With AI a constant, if little understood, buzzword across many sectors right now, the FTC in February the capabilities of their artificial intelligence offerings, adding that 鈥渇alse or unsubstantiated claims about a product鈥檚 efficacy are our bread and butter.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淭he minute you hear the word AI in marketing, alarm bells should go off in your head,鈥� said Healy, whose group has also done and the routinely installed in schools. 

鈥淎s far as [Evolv鈥檚] artificial intelligence goes, it does not appear to be very intelligent,鈥� he said, because it routinely fails to differentiate everyday school supplies like Chromebooks from weapons like guns. 鈥淲hat AI is actually in the system? That is something that Evolv has not told us very much about.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Evolv has resisted calls to disclose additional information about the ways its scanners function. While scanners鈥� sensitivity settings can alter their performance, a company spokesperson previously told 社区黑料 that publicly sharing information about those settings 鈥渋s irresponsible and puts people at greater risk.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淲e must assume any published information regarding details of a physical screening system will be studied and leveraged by a bad actor seeking to do harm,鈥� the statement continued. The company declined to comment on the false alarm rates reported by its customer districts, which include ,, and

 鈥淥ur systems are designed to detect many types of weapons and components of weapons, but there is no perfect solution that will stop 100% of threats, including ours, which is why security must include a layered approach that involves people, process and technology.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Knives became a point of conflict last year after the school district in Utica, New York, spent nearly $4 million to install Evolv scanners across 13 of its campuses. The scanners were ultimately removed after a student was stabbed multiple times with a knife during a fight in a high school hallway. The knife-wielding student had passed through an Evolv scanner with the blade in his backpack, a later investigation revealed. 

While the detectors had false alarms, including on a student鈥檚 lunch box, an Evolv scanner failed to alarm when an off-duty police officer accidentally brought a service revolver to a Utica district open house.

Meanwhile, in Buffalo, New York, Evolv scanners were credited for keeping a high school safe. Earlier this month, an to a criminal weapons possession charge after he was caught trying to bring a handgun into a high school. A school security officer reportedly found the disassembled 鈥済host gun鈥� in the teenager鈥檚 backpack as he passed through a weapons detector. Buffalo schools earlier this year. A Buffalo schools spokesperson declined to comment.

As companies increasingly market products with artificial intelligence capabilities to schools, school security consultant Kenneth Trump predicts 鈥� or at least hopes 鈥� that regulation is imminent. He pointed to new rules in . The ban was adopted after an upstate school district鈥檚 decision to install surveillance cameras with facial recognition capabilities prompted an outcry. 

鈥淭he marketing claims are so off the charts by many vendors that there鈥檚 really no chance for the average school administrator to know what鈥檚 true, what鈥檚 false and really the gaps and the limitations that these products have,鈥� said Trump, president of Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services. Though he expects regulators to soon reign in security companies, 鈥渦p until that happens, how many school districts are going to fall victim to questionable marketing and grandiose ideas that don鈥檛 come to fruition?鈥�