U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has summoned the chief executive officers of four surveillance technology companies to testify before his Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Sept. 23. The hearing is titled "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network."
Invited to appear are Garrett Langley of Flock Safety, Rick Smith of Axon Enterprise, Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions, and Filip Kaliszan of Verkada. Hawley is investigating AI-powered surveillance cameras over privacy and national security concerns.
Flock Safety, the subcommittee's primary focus, operates 120,000 AI-powered cameras across the United States. Hawley has raised questions about the company's collection of citizens' data and its use of Automated License Plate Readers, saying such practices could violate existing privacy laws.
Hawley launched his investigation into surveillance technology after publishing an op-ed in The Daily Wire. He also convened a hearing earlier this year on AI surveillance pricing and launched a separate investigation into OpenAI in July 2026 following reports of security breaches at Hugging Face.
The subcommittee, which Hawley chairs, has jurisdiction over technology and privacy issues as they intersect with criminal justice and national security. The hearing will examine how these companies collect, store, and use vast amounts of public and private data, and will explore the balance between public safety applications and the potential for surveillance overreach.
