Federal Trade Commission claims company that provided weapons detection technology to schools made false claims about its effectiveness

A product demo image from Evolv shows people walking through the company’s weapons detection system.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged a company that produces AI-based weapons detection systems used by schools and other businesses with making misleading claims about the technology’s effectiveness.

According to the FTC complaint filed Tuesday, the tech company Evolv Technologies exaggerated its security screening platform’s ability to detect weapons when compared to metal detectors. The complaint noted that much of the company’s customers are in the education sector, as schools all across the nation and state remain on high alert about threats of mass violence and school shootings. 

FTC officials said in a news release that Evolv’s Express AI-powered security scanners have been used in “thousands of schools” and higher-ed institutions. The company’s Tennessee clients include the Clarksville-Montgomery School System and Belmont University, among others. 

The commission claimed that the company “touted its use of AI, claiming its scanners are a high-tech alternative to traditional metal scanners,” and aggressively marketed the tool as a way to “address the problem of guns and other weapons in schools.”

“The FTC has been clear that claims about technology – including artificial intelligence – need to be backed up, and that is especially important when these claims involve the safety of children,” said Samuel Levine, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “If you make those claims without adequate support, you can expect to hear from the FTC.”

According to FTC officials, Evolv claimed that the technology can “detect all weapons” while ignoring harmless personal items, without requiring people to remove them from their pockets or bags. The company also claimed that their technology can detect weapons more accurately and faster than metal detectors. In addition, they claimed it can cut labor costs by 70 percent by reducing the need for additional personnel. 

However, the complaint alleges that Evolv’s scanners failed in “several instances to detect weapons in schools while flagging harmless personal items typically brought to schools, like laptops, binders, and water bottles.” It added that the scanners reportedly failed to detect a seven-inch knife brought into a school in October 2022 that was used to stab a student. In response to that incident, school officials increased the platform’s sensitivity settings, which led to an increase in false alarms. 

To reduce false positive rates, the FTC said that Evolv introduced additional features in 2023 with the goal of detecting more knives. Even with those changes, officials said, the system still misses some knives and prompts false alarms. 

The FTC’s settlement will compel Evolv to allow some K-12 school customers to opt out of contracts signed between April 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. In addition, the order looks to prohibit Evolv from making any misrepresentations about its products’ abilities and accuracy, the speed at which visitors can be screened compared to the use of metal detectors, labor costs, and the AI’s functionality. 

“Actions to ensure that AI marketing is truthful both protects consumers and helps ensure real innovators can thrive,” the FTC news release said.

Andrea Runner, senior director of business operations and special projects at Belmont University, said in an announcement earlier this year that the technology was adopted due to its supposed effectiveness. 

“There’s a buzz about Evolv across the city, and as Nashvillians, we’ve experienced Evolv first-hand at a number of venues locally. We needed our weapons detection partner to be on par with the university in terms of being innovative while also providing a seamless customer experience, and Express fits the bill,” she said then. 

According to a news release this week from Evolv, the tech company has since “resolved the United States Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) inquiry into certain aspects of the Company’s prior marketing claims.” It said that while Evolv disagrees with the FTC’s allegations and has not admitted any wrongdoing, the company has “chosen to resolve the matter to focus on its core mission of protecting lives through innovation and maintaining the trust of its valued customers.”

“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,” Mike Ellenbogen, interim president and CEO of Evolv, said in a public statement. 

“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.”

The announcement added that Evolv will continue to “refine the way it markets its technology, highlighting capabilities and limitations.” Officials from Belmont University and Clarksville-Montgomery Schools could not be reached for comment.