U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division purchased more Clearview AI licenses
This is the third time Army CID has ordered Clearview AI licenses during the Biden administration.
The vast majority of Clearview AI’s unclassified U.S. federal income during the Biden administration has resulted from an ongoing $1.5 million contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division. But the controversial facial recognition company also set up a commercial relationship with the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the U.S. Army — through the 502nd Military Police Battalion based at Fort Campbell — in the final months of the Trump administration.
An initial $15,000 purchase agreement for Clearview facial recognition licenses was inked before the presidential transition, and a procurement notice made public this morning reveals that CID purchased an additional $18,000 worth of Clearview licenses in May, making it the third such order since Biden took office. (The first was in August 2021 for $16,200, and the second was in September 2022 for $18,000.)
Clearview AI has been fined and/or banned in countries including: Greece, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Austria. But U.S. government usage has continued through federal law enforcement agencies such as HSI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Army CID. The company has also worked closely with detective Joe Scaramucci, who announced his transition to director of law enforcement engagement for the vigilante, anti-sex work nonprofit Skull Games on Tuesday, which the author has reported using Clearview AI through the surveillance firm Cobwebs Technologies. (According to the announcement, Scaramucci will remain a reserve deputy sheriff in McLennan County, Texas.)
Clearview AI’s continued usage by the Biden administration stands out as a result of the sharp critiques the company has received over its nationalist origins, including the roles of co-founder Charles Johnson and investor Peter Thiel. Yet, Clearview AI received more than five times as much money in unclassified federal contracts during the first two and a half years of the Biden administrationt than it did under the entire Trump administration.