Air Force Taps Clearview AI to Research Face-Identifying A.R. Glasses

New York-based Clearview AI has been the target of international investigations and lawsuits because it scraped billions of photos from the public internet to build a facial recognition tool used by law enforcement. Hundreds of federal agencies and local police departments have employed Clearview’s technology.

The company describes its software as ideal for investigations that take place after a crime has been committed and not for surveillance, but it has experimented with real-time facial recognition.

In January 2020, a technologist at The Times found code in the company’s app that showed it could be paired with augmented reality glasses. At the time, Hoan Ton-That, the chief executive of Clearview AI, acknowledged designing a prototype but said the company had no plans to release it.

“We continually research and develop new technologies, processes and platforms to meet current and future security challenges, and look forward to any opportunities that would bring us together with the Air Force in that realm,” Mr. Ton-That said in a statement after the contract became public. “Once realized, we believe this technology will be an excellent fit for numerous security situations.”

Last month, Mr. Ton-That said in a public letter that his company would not use its technology “in a real-time way,” but outfitting glasses with the technology to recognize faces seems to fit that bill.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/technology/air-force-clearview-ai-glasses.html