Taser maker Axon is mandating AI use to speed up work as its surveillance tools face scrutiny

When Rick Smith founded Taser International in an Arizona garage in 1993, his original vision involved taking a device that was originally created by a NASA scientist and redesigning it in a way that would make it palatable to law enforcement agencies.

More than three decades later, Smith’s company—now called Axon Enterprise—has sold more than one million Taser devices and diversified its portfolio to include body cameras, drones, and license plate reader cameras to law enforcement, emergency responders, and private-sector security customers.

More recently, Axon has also focused on selling adjacent software and artificial intelligence tools, helping the company report ten consecutive quarters of revenue growth above 30%.

But its push into AI coincides with escalating criticism about how officers are using these technologies for surveillance.

Police officers have been either fired or charged with using Flock Safety’s AI-enabled cameras to stalk former romantic partners and other personal connections.

AI systems erroneously led to an arrest of a man accused of trying to lure a child from a McDonald’s in 2023, and more recently, led to a Florida woman spending two weeks in jail after being wrongly accused in a deadly hit-and-run incident.

Most of the public’s ire has centered on Flock .

Axon has also faced criticism that its AI tools that help officers write police reports make errors , though the company said this occurred during an early access period when agencies could provide feedback before the product’s broader launch.

And earlier this month, the Los Angeles City Council voted to delay a pilot program with Axon that would have attached AI-enabled license plate readers on streetlights.

In August, Smith acknowledged that there was a budding anti-surveillance movement that echoed the massive backlash that followed the release of Tasers.

“Any new technology in public safety is going to go through an adjustment period, and I would say the critics aren’t all wrong,” Smith told investors during the company’s second-quarter earnings presentation.

Jeff Kunins, who holds the dual roles of chief product officer and chief technology officer at Axon, tells Fortune that the public discourse around surveillance and AI is a complex issue that requires a nuanced conversation.

“I am personally a life-long, die-hard progressive, and I’m here because of that, not in spite of it,” Kunins said.

“We view our work as using technology to improve transparency and accountability on both sides…and our role is to build the tech that facilitates public safety.” When Axon develops new features, Kunins says a third-party independent group, called the Ethics and Equity Advisory Council, makes recommendations during the product design and development process.