NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An artificial intelligence weapons detection company is under fire by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for allegedly making false and unsupported claims that its technology is more efficient, accurate, and cheaper than traditional metal detectors because it uses AI.
Evolv Technologies’ AI weapons detection systems are used in multiple Tennessee school districts, including Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS), Wilson County Schools, and Rutherford County Schools.
The technology scans students and other visitors for weapons, using AI, without requiring them to remove items from their person, according to previous marketing.
In the complaint filed last week against Evolv Technologies, the FTC cited multiple instances where the technology failed to detect all weapons like the company previously claimed in marketing advertisements, and falsely alerted to “harmless, everyday” items students normally bring to school, including binders, laptops, and water bottles, which the company claimed the technology would ignore.
The complaint also alleged Evolv failed to meet its own claims that the technology significantly reduces operating costs compared to traditional metal detectors.
Last November, Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson told the Montgomery County Commission the school system had experienced the false alert issue when it first rolled out its pilot program with Evolv, but the problem was expected. “There’s been alerts on the laptops and things like that, which is what we thought it would hit on,” the sheriff said.
The commission ultimately approved funds to expand the Evolv pilot program in November 2023 after the sheriff reported the technology was working as a deterrent because no weapons had been detected.
“It is definitely a success in the manner of not finding any weapons coming through the system, which is exactly what we want. This keeps the weapons out of our school,” Fuson said last November.
In a proposed settlement order, the FTC made several recommendations, including restricting Evolv from making unverified claims about the effectiveness of its products and ordering the company to allow certain K-12 customers to cancel their contracts, which are often multi-year deals.
While Evolv disagreed with all of the FTC’s allegations and denied any wrongdoing, the company agreed to allow a limited number of K-12 customers to cancel their contracts during a 60-day period in the company’s resolution to the FTC complaint.
“We worked collaboratively with the FTC to resolve this matter and are pleased that the FTC did not challenge the fundamental effectiveness of our technology and that the resolution does not include any monetary relief. We appreciated the opportunity to demonstrate for the FTC our Evolv Express® system and our customers’ diligence in researching, testing and ultimately deploying our solution in myriad environments,” said Mike Ellenbogen, Interim President and CEO of Evolv Technology in a press release. “Our top priority is the safety of people and the communities we serve. To be clear, this inquiry was about past marketing language and not our system’s ability to add value to security operations.”
None of the Tennessee school districts that use Evolv weapons detection systems directly answered whether the company has given them the option to cancel their contracts when News 2 reached out for more information.
However, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement saying they would diligently evaluate other technologies before spending additional taxpayer dollars on Evolv systems.
“Given the expense to expand the Evolv Technology throughout multiple schools, along with the staff required to properly operate the equipment, we want to diligently evaluate other technologies before spending additional tax dollars on this technology. We, along with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, will continue to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of any new technology that will help us improve the safety of our schools,” Sheriff Fuson wrote in a statement.
A Wilson County Schools spokesperson told News 2 the district has had multiple training sessions and ongoing support from the company since acquiring their services to provide an enhanced layer of security around a year ago. They said the district is still learning more about their systems and products, and there have been no new discussions or decisions/BOE voting on anything regarding the FTC complaint against Evolv.
A spokesperson for Rutherford County Schools told News 2 the district is monitoring legal inquiries with Evolv, and they are evaluating the system as part of a pilot program.
Evolv is facing multiple lawsuits, including one filed by its investors who claim the company lied about its products’ effectiveness.