Trump Says He 'Likes' Flock Surveillance Cameras Amid Bipartisan Pushback

President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed support for Flock Safety's AI-driven camera network, saying the systems are useful to law enforcement even as he conceded others see them as encroachments on privacy. The exchange occurred during an inflight briefing on Air Force One as he returned from Ireland and represents his clearest public stance on the company after earlier remarks that the administration was still weighing the issue. Flock's business model centers on fixed pole-mounted cameras that photograph passing vehicles and apply computer vision to record features such as make, model, color and other identifiable details. The company reports operating over 120,000 cameras in more than 6,000 communities and says its system scans about 20 billion vehicles each month, a capability police departments credit with helping recover stolen cars and find missing people. Critics and some lawmakers argue the network creates extensive movement histories for people who have not been accused of wrongdoing. That concern intensified after a Wired report revealed the company had built an AI tool—initially called Nightshift and later rebranded Flock OS Investigate—with preset queries, including one that flags a vehicle's "associates" by identifying other cars appearing at the same cameras within a two-minute window. Congressional and state responses have included a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee investigation led by Sen. Josh Hawley, who opened a formal probe in late August and later widened scrutiny to other surveillance vendors. Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged legislation to curb the network, Rep. Thomas Massie is pursuing a bill to block federal funding for agencies that use the cameras, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop funding them in late August, and the Los Angeles Police Department paused its Flock contract in July. Hawley also set a September 8 deadline for Flock to provide internal documents as part of the probe. The president's endorsement comes amid a broader in-flight discussion about artificial intelligence safety, where Trump pushed back on calls to slow development and reiterated his view that U.S. leadership in AI is crucial. His support for Flock places him at odds with several lawmakers and officials who have raised concerns about privacy and the potential for mass surveillance tied to automated license-plate readers.